Well, it SEEMED like a good match at the time….We have some video of an interview with the redoubtable Harvey Weinstein on the decision of the NFL Network, owned by the league, to first set up an interview with “Silver Linings Playbook” stars Bradley Cooper and Chris Tucker, and then back off because it “wasn’t a proper fit.”

That’s mostly because Robert DeNiro’s character, the father of Bradley Cooper’s character, makes his living from gambling on the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles (the whole family are ardent fans of the team).  

Given that director David O. Russell talked last week with Deadline’s Pete Hammond about how they dodged around likely NFL opposition to the movie by shooting scenes outside the Eagles stadium by going across the street, perhaps it’s hardly a surprise that the network changed its mind when it figured out about those sensitive bits in the movie’s script.

But not doing an interview with the movie’s stars won’t make one whit (or cent) of difference in the fact that most estimates say betting on the NFL (legal and otherwise) as a multibillion-dollar industry is far larger than on virtually any other sport.

All it means is Harvey won’t get another chance to find some new fans of his very charming Oscar contender of a movie. For that, perhaps we can understand his pique in the video here: http://www.deadline.com/2012/11/harvey-weinstein-nfl-network-silver-linings-playbook-snub/