If there's anything more underwhelming than an online spat between two NFL insiders then congratulations. But that's what we have with ESPN's Adam Schefter defending his honor on X from a rival outlet.
After Ohio State wide receiver Carnell Tate recorded a 4.53 40-yard dash time at the NFL Scouting Combine, Schefter reported that he had heard from other teams that they had clocked a faster time than the official mark.
"Ohio State WR Carnell Tate, a potential top 10 pick, was timed by several NFL executives and GMs on Saturday with a 40 time in the range of 4.45-4.47 seconds. Although the combine registers official times, teams always conduct their own timing, and those measurements with some teams were lower than his clocked 4.52," Schefter wrote on Sunday.
Fight Time
ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio took some issue with that reporting, suggesting that Schefter was perhaps doing Tate and his agents a favor by sharing that information.
"The broader point, as addressed by Lerner, is that some are seeing through Schefter's ‘report' as an effort to do a favor for Tate's agent, Drew Rosenhaus. It's part of the gig, and it's something that - to the trained eye - is instantly recognizable," Florio wrote in the aftermath.
"Did Schefter canvass multiple teams for their numbers, or did he simply copy and paste a text from Rosenhaus? Given the way the insider sausage gets made, the far safer bet is the latter."
Schefter responded by taking to X and showing Florio the DMs he received from other teams proving the faster 40-yard dash time. For good measure, the ESPN insider went on The Pat McAfee Show to prove that he was right.
However, that didn't sit well with Florio either. On Thursday, Florio asserted that the evidence isn't the point and that the entire issue he had was that Schefter was doing work for Tate and his agent, not that his sources were wrong.
Jan 21, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; NBC Sports sideline announcer Mike Florio on field prior to an AFC divisional round game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images © Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Florio also defended his decision to call Schefter out over it.
"So whether the information about Tate's hand-timed 40-yard-dash was fed to Schefter by Rosenhaus or whether Rosenhaus planted the seed for Schefter's own research or whether Schefter did it proactively as a gesture no different than sending out $16,000 worth of chocolates, Schefter's decision to focus on a potential flaw in the official, laser-timed 40 from Tate and to not make that point for anyone else who ran it can be explained in very simple terms," he wrote today. "Schefter was doing a favor for someone who does plenty of favors for him."
Someone call a parent. The children are fighting.
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