A big part of why fans enjoy watching the NFL draft is the unpredictability and the suspense that comes with each pick. That suspense was stolen from everybody who happens to follow ESPN reporter Adam Schefter on Thursday night.
And chances are most NFL fans do follow Schefter. He is widely considered the foremost authority when it comes to NFL news, and is at the top of his profession. If you are a fan of the NFL and have a twitter, you probably follow him.
And to be fair, Adam Schefter is usually a great follow. He is always on top of NFL news, and keeps everyone who follows him up to date on all NFL news, and that is a testament to why he has over 1.5 million twitter followers.
But on Thursday night Schefter deprived all of his twitter followers of the joy of the NFL Draft that comes with the suspense of each pick. With almost every single pick on Thursday night, Schefter gave away the pick before Commissioner Roger Goodell stepped up to the podium to announce it. Usually by the time Goodell stepped to the podium, Schefter’s twitter followers knew the pick for at least a couple of minutes. Occasionally it was announced just seconds before the pick.
Bah... Humbug..
It started innocent and actually kind of cool with Schefter reporting all the trades and who those teams were probably going to take with that pick. But then it got flat out frustrating as pick-by-pick went by with Schefter tweeting out the results for everyone to see. I thought it would stop once the flurry of early trades did, but it did not.
What is the cost of being the first to report the draft picks? 1.5 million followers being robbed of the draft experience. You want Roger Goodell to be the first to announce the draft pick. Not an ESPN reporter who happens to find out the information before anyone else.
It got to the point when most of you probably unfollowed him for a short period of time, closed twitter altogether, or just tried to ignore him as much as possible. I went the route of trying to ignore his tweets, but I always seemed to end up glancing at his tweet and seeing the impending selection.
I’m not sure if Schefter has kids, but if he does Christmas morning must really suck around the Schefter household. “Hey kids, I got you a Tonka Truck.”
(Addendum: I was informed that Schefter is Jewish. And as a friend of mine points out, I guess he can take to ruining eight nights worth of gifts instead.)
Many fans took to twitter to voice their frustration with Schefter’s spoiler-alert twitter feed. The irony of it all is that with Schefter’s tweets, he actually hurt the network he works for who was televising the draft. What’s the point of watching ESPN, when you can watch something else and just look at Schefter’s twitter feed?
There were multiple big NHL playoff games on tonight that could divert the attention of some, and it was the final night for the NBA’s regular season.
I’m genuinely surprised that ESPN didn’t put a stop to Schefter’s tweets, although I should never be surprised when it comes to the “World Wide Leader.”
On the bright side, when December rolls around Schefter will be a great follow. If the Mayans turn out to be right and the world does end, I’m sure Schefter will take to twitter to announce our impending doom before anyone else knows.
So thank you, Adam Schefter, for ruining the draft watching experience for your 1.5 million twitter followers. Because being the first to report something is all that matters in the end, right?
