All 32 NFL teams have started training camp, yet off-field stories continue to make headlines. The latest involves San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who was in a serious car accident recently that caused three broken ribs, a broken nose, a broken hand, a concussion, and 40 stitches.
ESPN’s NFL insider Adam Schefter waited until immediately after the 49ers’ announcement to report on the accident and Shanahan’s injuries, drawing criticism from some of his peers. Now, Jason Whitlock is arguing that Schefter is not a journalist and invoking the Dianna Russini-Mike Vrabel scandal to make his point.
Jason Whitlock Chides Adam Schefter Over Sitting On Kyle Shanahan News
Whitlock is not one to hide his thoughts, calling out anyone and everyone in the sports world. Lately, he has taken aim at his former ESPN colleague, Schefter.
Whitlock accused Schefter and, by extension, ESPN, of protecting Shanahan after his recent accident, since they waited 11 days after the crash until the Niners were ready to make an announcement before reporting on it.
“Adam Schefter wrote a book about Mike Shanahan. Kyle is protected by Schefty,” Whitlock asserted. “For 11 days, the San Francisco 49ers handed every jealous person in football in America a paintbrush and said, ‘Hey, go fill it in yourselves.'”
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Whitlock argued that Schefter isn’t a journalist, arguing that he essentially does PR work for organizations.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you Adam Schefter is a bad guy or a bad journalist, because Adam Schefter is no longer a journalist at all,” Whitlock said. “He’s a mailbox. The team writes the letter. The team decides when to mail it. And Adam Schefter’s whole job, the entire reason he makes millions of dollars, is to be the mailbox the NFL trusts to deliver the letter exactly when they say. Not a day early. Not a day late.”
Whitlock then compared this to Russini, who was reporting on Vrabel and his teams while they were allegedly in a relationship.
“We learned that Dianna Russini was reporting A.J. Brown wanted to reunite with Mike Vrabel in New England while she was involved with Mike Vrabel. That’s not journalism either,” Whitlock said. “That’s a woman filing dispatches for the man she’s sleeping with.”
ESPN sits at the center of sports media, and it recently purchased NFL Network to solidify its place as the worldwide leader in football coverage. Over the years, Whitlock has engaged in a war of words with various ESPN personalities, including a series of tense exchanges with Stephen A. Smith, so this is nothing new.
However, the timing of Schefter’s reporting and his decision to wait on the 49ers’ announcement is certainly odd.
