NFL Fans Go After Adam Schefter for Sending Draft of Story to Washington General Manager

Adam Schefter is taking some heat from NFL fans. The ESPN NFL insider is being accused of sending a draft of a story to then-Washington general manager Bruce Allen about the ongoing lockout in 2011, according to Fox News. It was discovered in a leaked email from July 2011, and Schefter wrote: “Please let me know if you see anything that should be added, changed, tweaked. “Thanks, Mr. Editor, for that and the trust. Plan to file this to espn about 6 am. . .”

On Wednesday, Schefter released a statement on the situation. “Fair questions are being asked about my reporting approach on an NFL Lockout story from 10 years ago,” Schefter said. “Just to clarify, it’s common practice to verify facts of a story with sources before you publish in order to be as accurate as possible. In this case, I took the rare step of sending the full story in advance because of the complex nature of the collective bargaining talks.

“It was a step too far and, looking back, I shouldn’t have done it. The criticism being levied is fair. With that said, I want to make this perfectly clear: in no way did I, or would I, cede editorial control or hand over final say about a story to anyone, ever.” Here’s a look at fans reacting to the story. 

The Story

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One person wrote: “ESPN is purely an entertainment company. ESPN has nothing to do with journalism. They have several investments especially in the NFL, SEC, etc that they routinely promote and cover for. This shouldn’t be any surprise to anyone.”

Sources

Wondering how today’s reporters like Schefter get all sourced up? Maybe it’s calling NFL executives “Mr. Editor” and asking for their final approval when you send them your entire story before you hit publish. That’ll give you a leg up over journalists who would never do that!

— Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) October 13, 2021

One person responded: “Are you saying it’s shocking sports reporters are in the pockets of those they consider sources, and those that they cover? No s—, Steve.”

Mouthpiece

i mean, in his defense, its not like schefter has never purported to be anything other than league mouthpiece

— Astead (@AsteadWH) October 13, 2021

Another person wrote: “The sports scoop industry is weird. Folks fighting for the right to make big money just for doing PR releases for teams, players, and agents 30 seconds faster than the other guy.”

Scared?

Adam Schefter is now under fire for sending an article to Washington executives before he sent it in to ESPN. Lots of people running scared over these Redskins emails. https://t.co/kIv7EG7GEd

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 13, 2021

One fan asked: “Do you think this will impact St. Louis vs. the NFL case? Sure some of those emails pertained to the rams relocation. Interested to hear your thoughts on STL potentially getting a billion (with a B) if they win ?

Not Surprised

wait, you mean to tell me Adam Schefter carries water for the NFL? not our fierce famously independent journalist ADAM SCHEFTER!

(lol come on y’all cant be remotely surprised by this) https://t.co/F8aTs93Xl9

— Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) October 13, 2021

One person tweeted: “All part of the NFL’s master plan to further distract from Snyder et al.(Isn’t it weird how many people forget the NFL is an organization of owners, so they’re going to look out for themselves and maybe the guy they hired to do the office work for them, RG?)”

Explains Everything

Wow. Now we know why Adam Schefter is an NFL insider, he allows teams to proofread his stories for their liking before he posts them https://t.co/1214ttsmkl

— 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 (@exavierpope) October 13, 2021

One person responded: “This is exactly how Hollywood “insiders” and gossip columnists rolled back in the silver screen era. Studios would give sympathetic reporters “scoops” in exchange for keeping more scandalous stories under wraps.”

Set the Record Straight

This is my tweet from this morning.

It could have been written better.

Do I think most journalists check with the sources, sometimes even show them pieces of stories? Yes.

Do I think journalists show sources full unedited pieces & offer them to edit it as they see fit? No. pic.twitter.com/ntPg2JCtYy

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) October 13, 2021

And one fan wrote: “I’ve done it for people who aren’t in positions of power. I wouldn’t do it for a powerful person simply because of the tone it sets, and because they knew what they were getting into when they assumed those positions.”