Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington teamed up to break some of the biggest news of the NFL offseason. Schefter says that report earned him a phone call from someone who wasn’t too happy.
Schefter and Darlington reported for ESPN on January 29 that Tom Brady was going to retire. Their report came the day before the conference championship games and stole many headlines. Additionally, and more importantly, Schefter and Darlington spoiled Brady’s ability to make the announcement on his timeline and terms.
Schefter was a guest on “Pardon My Take” last week and talked about his breaking news report. Hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter were teasing Schefter about a tweet he shared about Jimmy Garoppolo. They asked if the positive tweet about Garoppolo was a trade with agent Don Yee for the scoop on Brady’s retirement (Yee represents both quarterbacks).
Schefter said no and then said that the first time he heard from Yee about either matter was when the agent called him about the Brady retirement report.
“The first contact I had with Don Yee was afterwards,” Schefter said. “When he called, he said – and my wife was in the office – and I haven’t talked about this before, but I’m in my office, it’s a Saturday afternoon, there was a snowstorm in New York, wife is sitting there, Don Yee calls and said ‘why would you not call me in advance?’ I said, ‘I did call you, multiple times, left messages, never heard back from you.’ He said, ‘I have a statement I want to read to you.’”
Schefter turned out to be right, as Brady announced his retirement not long after the report. The ESPN reporter took a subtle victory lap about the matter.
This is nothing new for Schefter, who is used to spoiling the retirement news for major quarterbacks.
H/T Patriots Wire
