ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter breaks news dozens of times every day during football season. For the most part, his reporting is accurate. Once in a while, however, the league’s preeminent insider can post something that some would consider misleading.
That’s what happened Monday evening when the reporter posted an injury update about Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice ahead of his team’s game against the New Orleans Saints.
Rice went down last week with an apparent serious knee injury, though speculation throughout the week made it appear that the receiver may recover in time to return later this year for the Chiefs. Schefter’s original report seemed to back up this sentiment.
After consulting today with doctors, there’s “a lot of optimism” that standout WR Rashee Rice didn’t suffer a knee injury as significant as first believed, per source. Rice will be put under anesthesia Tuesday to determine the extent of his injury, but the belief now is it could… pic.twitter.com/Vz8oZiRVaJ
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 7, 2024
His first post at 6:51 p.m. ET cited a source that believed there was “a lot of optimism” that the Rice injury wasn’t as serious as initially thought, and that his timeline for return could be “much shorter” than was originally believed.
Just six minutes later, Schefter posted a report that struck a much different tone.
It’s unlikely that Chiefs WR Rashee Rice will play again this season, but doctors will not know for sure until they perform surgery Tuesday morning, per source. https://t.co/wjb1RiEdfd
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 7, 2024
In a matter of minutes, Schefter’s reporting went from entirely optimistic about Rice’s injury, to one that suggests that, in all likelihood, the receiver will be sitting out the rest of the season.
It’s certainly not the first time that Schefter has blasted something out to his 11.3 million followers that didn’t tell the whole story. This offseason, Schefter caught heat from San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s agent for suggesting that the receiver had accepted a deal that had been on the table for three weeks during his “hold-in.” Aiyuk’s agent, Ryan Williams, replied to Schefter, “That’s factually inaccurate but the check still cashes.”
Last season, the insider reported that Miami Dolphins defensive back Jalen Ramsey was set to return from injury, to which the star player responded, “This is news to me,” before clarifying Schefter’s report by saying there was “a chance” he would play. To Schefter’s credit, Ramsey did end up playing that week.
Then of course, there’s the instances where Schefter has seemingly done the bidding of some of the NFL’s more unsavory athletes, including Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. In 2022, Schefter posted on social media following news that Watson would not face criminal charges amid allegations of sexual assault and harassment saying, “This is why Deshaun Watson, from the beginning, welcomed a police investigation: He felt he knew that the truth would come out.” Many saw Schefter acting as a mouthpiece for Watson, his representation, or even the league while failing to provide full context.
When you break as much news as Schefter, there are bound to be innocent mistakes, but there are also likely to be conflicts of interest. While the Rice reporting earlier tonight seems to have just been an instance of hastily reporting some information before getting the full picture, it’s fair to question whether Schefter’s style of reporting is always responsible given his history.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.