Interesting, and you are entitled to your own opinion, of course.
One can certainly argue, as you appear to do, that being confronted with Geno's words would bruise her feelings, OTOH, Geno's feelings are going to be out there in print and on YouTube for everyone in the world to see. Perhaps the greater bruise would be seeing it out there and knowing she has no way to reach all of the people who have read/seen it and drawn their own lasting conclusions. That would make most people feel even more helpless than being given an opportunity and turning it down because you don't want to offend the coach. I think it ought to be your choice, whether you are Stevens or Maya Moore or a practice squad player.
A state attorney general once stopped returning my calls when I was a reporter. I never knew why, but I kept calling to give him a chance to respond to developments that affected him. One day, after several years of this, he answered my call. Again, I never knew why, but he he continued returning my calls until he retired. Reporters are supposed to ask all parties for comment on something that affects them. At the AP, where I worked, our written instructions were to not only seek comment but to report any unsuccessful efforts as part of the story. It is a question of fairness to the subjects as well as to the readers.
That doesn't mean you stick a microphone in front of the grieving widow and ask "how does it feel?". But it does mean you give someone the chance to respond in any way she wishes to anything that reflects negatively on her -- even if she hasn't spoken to you the last 20 times you asked her something.
