Pole smoking Schefter denies carrying water when reporting on players like Deshaun Watson, Dalvin Cook

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/07/12/schefter-denies-carrying-
water-when-reporting-on-players-like-deshaun-watson-dalvin-cook/

As the slow time moves toward a conclusion, the Washington Post has
published a profile of an NFL reporter who always lives life in the fast
lane.

Sometimes, too fast.

There’s no denying Adam Schefter’s success, primarily when it comes to
reporting on trades, signings, and other moves five minutes before those
moves are announced to the world. He has positioned himself almost
uniquely (with the exception of a couple of folks who work directly for
the NFL) to regularly get the consideration of the five-minute head’s up
before the announcement is made. As Myles Simmons has said on #PFTPM, when
he previously worked for an NFL team (he has been employed pre-PFT by the
Rams and Panthers), the digital crew would be told that, as to the
announcement of certain moves, Schefter would break the news and then the
team would announce it, basically five minutes later.

Schefter has leveraged that platform, fueled by his eight-figure (almost)
Twitter feed. He’s very aware of the reach. As we’ve heard from multiple
people in the industry, he actively uses those statistics to persuade
people to give their scoops to him first. Which gives him even more reach.
Which allows him to further leverage that reach for more scoops.

When it comes to at least one prominent NFL agent who routinely sends
information to multiple reporters, Schefter has gotten to the point where
he gets it long enough before everyone else to win the 280-character race.

But there are flaws, glitches. Strange little quirks. It’s fine. It’s
humanizing. We all have a few wires that are crossed. Schefter, for
example, didn’t want to be photographed for the profile.

“I want you to get what you need,” Schefter told the Post photographer. “I
hope I never fucking see them. I don’t need any more attention.”

He doesn’t need any more attention, but he sat for a two-hour interview
with the Post as part of the profile it was doing on him.

He presumably did that to have a direct voice in a balanced profile that
inevitably would include some criticism. Strauss didn’t have to turn over
too many rocks. One of the topics included Schefter’s recent missteps,
fueled apparently by an all-gas, no-brakes approach to gathering and
disseminating information on social media. Tweets regarding Vikings
running back Dalvin Cook and Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson created the
clear impression that he was doing a favor for the players and/or their
agents in order to ensure that the pump remained fully primed for more
information in the future.

Per Strauss, multiple ESPN employees (speaking on the condition of
anonymity) said they were concerned that the reporting “reflected a
failure to understand the sensitivity of domestic violence allegations.”
When Strauss told Schefter about these concerns, his first question was,
“Are they going to go on the record?” As if that makes the concerns not
real.

Schefter then denied that he was carrying water for anyone. “I’ve never
put out information thinking I would get something back in the future,”
Schefter said. “If people want to work with me, great. If not, OK.”

Sorry, but that’s just not true. It’s not. He periodically takes one for
the team because it serves the greater good of fueling his Twitter nuclear
reactor. He’ll tolerate the periodic meltdown, as long as it keeps the
lights on. And, yes, it’s unmistakable to the trained eye when he posts a
quid pro quo tweet.

It’s part of the deal he’s done to build what he’s built — the ultimate
megaphone for letting the world know who’s getting signed, cut, traded,
hired, fired, whatever five minutes before it’s formally announced. He
remains constantly plugged into the matrix, and his own internal dopamine
drip is tied to getting another scoop, another scoop, another scoop.

Of course, it’s balanced by the torment that comes from not being first.
And, frankly, not getting to the finish line before anyone else clearly
bothers him more than the possibility of stepping in shit along the way.

Which almost bothers him as much as being photographed.

Comments:

dryzzt23 says:
July 12, 2022 at 10:29 am
I have never liked Schefter. Of course it’s a quid pro quo, that’s how ALL
media types operate these days.

24423Rate This
golions1 says:
July 12, 2022 at 10:56 am
All reporters trade favorable stories in exchange for access and
information. It isn’t hard to tell who is plugged into teams or who is
plugged into agents as their primary sources.

1415Rate This
tb12bestqbevah says:
July 12, 2022 at 11:03 am
Getting to tweet something 5 minutes before the official press
release…..is this really something to brag about?

Michael E says:
July 12, 2022 at 11:31 am
How many of that eight figure twitter feed are bots?

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