Adam Schefter Admits He Sat on Aaron Rodgers News Until NFL Draft Day
Schefter #Schefter
Adam Schefter isn’t just one of the most well-connected NFL insiders out there, he’s also a genius broadcast businessman and ESPN should be thanking their lucky stars he gave them the news of the year on a night where they always dominate NFL coverage.
On a podcast today, Schefter admitted he sat on the news that Aaron Rodgers officially wants out of Green Bay until the NFL Draft.
Why would he do such a thing? Obvious isn’t it? To drive ratings. And wouldn’t you know it, mission accomplished.
A few hours before the draft, Schefter broke the Rodgers news on Twitter and teased he would release more information on NFL Live on ESPN.
He also wrote a story on it.
This is a media masterpiece. Schefter is driving viewership and clicks and taking any attention anyone else was getting on NFL Draft day and refocusing it all squarely on ESPN. The suits upstairs must have loved this.
Even dating back to last season when the Packers lost in the NFC Championship game, there were questions about whether that was his last game with the Packers or not. We knew he was disgruntled after they picked his assumed successor, Jordan Love, in the 2020 NFL Draft. Then he got engaged this offseason and I’m sure he changed his outlook on life. Even Schefter said he didn’t expect Rodgers to finish his career in Green Bay earlier in the offseason.
But no one reported how far things had deteriorated between Rodgers and the Packers until draft night, even if others had the information. It wasn’t until Schefter struck first that all the other leaks burst. The floodwaters rose quickly after that and Schefter and ESPN became the life raft for people eager to watch from safety.
This is simply brilliant work by Schefter and anyone else at ESPN who played a role in it. That Schefter admitted it now is sort of odd, but also a victory lap. You can question why he explained his reporting when he didn’t have to, but it does provide interesting insight into how Picasso, I mean Schefter, creates his artwork.
This might be his best yet.