1. Adam Schefter is the subject of a major feature story in the Washington Post on Tuesday.
The profile takes you inside the world of ESPN’s top NFL news-breaker and gets his take on several recent misfires, including controversial tweets about Dalvin Cook and Deshaun Watson and sending a story about then-Washington president Bruce Allen, to Allen for changes and refer to him as “Mr. Editor.”
The piece gives the tone it’s meant to help Schefter regain some of the people he may have lost during recent controversies. He talks about all the standard stuff: learning his lessons, learning to slow down, learning to press editors.
Schefter also talks about his relentless work ethic. The story notes that Chris Mortensen once turned down a request to hit ESPN live on Christmas Day, but Schefter agreed to do it.
Personally, I think Mortensen is the good looking one there.
A theme throughout the story is Schefter’s annoyance at having to take pictures for the feature.
“I want you to get what you need,” he told the photographer, according to the Post. “I hope I never see them. I don’t need any more attention.”
The juiciest part of the feature story, though, is that some of Schefter’s colleagues spoke to the Post anonymously about it.
“He’s your preeminent journalist for the great sport in America,” one ESPN personality said on air. “I would hope you as a network are embarrassed by that, but I’m surprised ESPN doesn’t seem to care.”
Also via the Post: “The Cook incident was the most serious, and several people who work at ESPN, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said they were concerned that it and Watson’s report reflected a failure to understand the sensitivity of allegations of domestic violence.”
However, Schefter did not offer a direct response to the criticism from colleagues, saying, “Are they going to go on the record?”
I have no way of knowing if ESPN is worried about being embarrassed by Schefter, as an off-the-record ESPN personality claimed. But I do know this: Schefter reportedly makes $9 million a year; he breaks every big NFL story there is and is as valuable an asset as ESPN has on its payroll. It’s not surprising that ESPN and Schefter would move forward, business as usual, no matter what controversies arise now and then.
2. ESPN fantasy guru Matthew Berry shocked everyone on Monday by announcing he was leaving the network. In an even more surprising twist, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reports that Berry is expected to land at NBC. I would have bet every dollar to my name that Berry would have ended up with FanDuel or DraftKings.
3. If you like loud, over-the-top radio rants, you’ll love this clip from ESPN New York radio host Don LaGreca, who wasn’t happy with a caller who claimed LaGreca was nothing without his partner, Michael Kay. Stick with the clip because it slowly builds to the explosion.
4. “New media” probably means you don’t get to offer your opinion on an athlete based on what you observe.
5. Grizzlies star Ja Morant, appeared to get a huge kick out of ESPN falling for a fake Ballsack Sports quote about Ja Morant.
6. The latest episode of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast features an interview with ESPN NBA reporter Brian Windhorst.
Windhorst talks about his experience of going viral after a clip of him speculating about a possible Jazz trade on First Take went viral. Did he know Rudy Gobert would be traded when he talked about Utah’s “strange” trade of Royce O’Neale? Did producers say anything to him during his long segment? What was his reaction when Gobert was traded? Did he have a favorite meme?
Windhorst also discusses his relationship with LeBron James, the one question he’d like to ask LeBron, the one question he’d like to ask Kevin Durant, whether he feels competitive with Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania and much more.
Following Windhorst is the weekly segment “Traina Thoughts” with Sal Licata of WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York. Jimmy and Sal discuss Jimmy’s hatred of the hot dog eating contest, college realignment in college football, Kevin Durant’s trade request and Jimmy’s day trying New Haven, Conn. pizza.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
7. VIDEO OF THE DAY: I don’t know why I found this funny, but I did.
Be sure to catch up on previous editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
