Adam Schefter is one the most connected people in sports. While the NFL insider has a prominent voice on ESPN, critics may wonder just how necessary his job is.
Even if Schefter breaks a scoop first, he’ll often report something a team or direct source confirms shortly after. Does it matter if he reveals a signing a few minutes before the official announcement?
Schefter pushed back against that notion during a conversation with The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand. The 58-year-old believes those situations are only a fraction of his “huge body of work.”
“There are many things that are not five minutes before,” Schefter said (h/t Awful Announcing). “There are some that are. Absolutely. But there are a lot of things that aren’t, and there are a lot of big context things that aren’t.”
Schefter made his case with a recent example. Many reports indicated that the Las Vegas Raiders would likely hire Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as their head coach. However, Schefter advised otherwise.
“I know everybody has got Ben Johnson anointed to the Raiders. I’m not in that camp right now,” Schefter told Pat McAfee on Jan. 17. “…. Why is everybody ignoring Chicago when it comes to Ben Johnson?”
Four days later, the Bears hired Johnson. Schefter got increasingly animated when recalling his prescient warning.
“Everybody had Ben Johnson to the Raiders. It was done,” Schefter told Marchand. “The clips are there. They’re on Pat McAfee. They’re on Pardon My Take. I’m like, ‘Hold on … Pat, why is everybody ruling out the Bears?’ That was going on for two weeks while other people proclaimed ‘five minutes.’ There’s your two weeks’ notice on Ben Johnson.”
Schefter acknowledged instances of him narrowly beating a team to the punch, but there’s more to his reporting.
“There are certain things that we could put out that a team is ruling out a player and five minutes later, the injury comes,” Schefter said. “Yes, he’s ruled out. OK. That’s a part of the job. There’s a lot of elements to the job.”
