Adam Schefter gave credence to conspiracy theories surrounding the NFL fixing games for the Kansas City Chiefs, and Nick Wright is now questioning his journalistic standards.
On the latest episode of What’s Wright? With Nick Wright, the FS1 host went off on Schefter for his scoop about the NFL’s reaction to a couple of controversial calls that benefited Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs during their divisional round win over the Houston Texans. According to Schefter, the NFL plans on expanding replay assist into plays that include the quarterback slide, which is one play where Houston was controversially flagged for a hit on Mahomes.
For all those complaining that Patrick Mahomes gets too many calls, relief soon could be on the way.
NFL replay assist is expected to expand this offseason into plays that could include the quarterback slide, league sources told ESPN.https://t.co/4w3haqOW7i
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 25, 2025
“I was enraged by this for a number of reasons,” Wright (a Chiefs fan) said after reading Schefter’s social media post and article. “But here’s the primary one. That’s terrible, terrible journalism to write that article and not include the two following facts.”
The two following facts were regarding the NFL response to the controversial penalties that Mahomes and the Chiefs benefited from. The first penalty was reviewed by replay assist and upheld. The second penalty was not reviewed, but NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero later reported the league stated it would have also been upheld.
Schefter failed to mention the fact that the NFL already upheld both controversial calls. Because of that omission, Schefter fueled conspiracy theories by not explaining those conspiracies are essentially without merit, per the NFL.
“’Relief is on the way’, which lends real credibility to the ‘It’s rigged’ stuff. Real credibility,” Wright ranted about Schefter’s post. “The morning of conference championship games from the single biggest microphone in all of sports social media – Adam Schefter’s Twitter account.”
Wright then shared Schefter’s second post, which presented stats that similarly appeared to give credibility to claims that NFL referees are fixing games to get the Chiefs to their fifth Super Bowl in six years.
Penalties during Chiefs’ eight-game win streak in playoffs, via @PaulHembo:
Roughing the passer:
Chiefs (0)
Opponents (6)Unnecessary roughness:
Chiefs (1)
Opponents (4) https://t.co/PyWZGslCi5— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 26, 2025
“Naked stats with no context,” Wright said. “And then went on McAfee yesterday and tried to wash his hands of all of it. He was like, ‘Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, I’m just presenting facts. I added no editorial, I added no commentary.’ And again, everyone likes Adam. I don’t know him, everyone likes him… That is so disingenuous, and everyone knows it. There is literally infinite facts out there that you can pull from at any given time…You are choosing to present these facts, which further the current internet conspiracy that either the games are rigged or the Chiefs are getting calls. So don’t act like those are neutral facts.”
Troy Aikman’s harsh assessment of the calls Mahomes benefitted from during the divisional round seemingly opened the door for the Chiefs conspiracy theories to get more mainstream media attention. But Schefter, the NFL’s most well-known reporter, only presenting one side of the facts on these controversial penalties, certainly warrants criticism.
If this NFL insider thing doesn’t work out for Schefter, it seems like he might have a future as a political analyst. Because this is pretty much the crux of most political debates. Present a few naked “facts” without context to push an agenda driven narrative or create distrust that fuels a conspiracy.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com