Adam Schefter’s recent comments have brought conspiracy theories regarding the NFL’s favoritism towards the Kansas City Chiefs into the spotlight, prompting Nick Wright to call into question Schefter’s journalistic integrity. On the latest episode of What’s Wright? With Nick Wright, the FS1 host criticized Schefter for his scoop about the NFL’s response to several controversial calls that aided Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs during their divisional round triumph over the Houston Texans. Schefter reported that the NFL intends to expand replay assist to include quarterback slides, a maneuver for which Houston was controversially penalized for hitting Mahomes.
For all those complaining that Patrick Mahomes gets too many calls, relief soon could be on the way.
NFL replay assist is expected to expand this offseason into plays that could include the quarterback slide, league sources told ESPN.https://t.co/4w3haqOW7i
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 25, 2025
Wright expressed his outrage over Schefter’s tweet and article, emphasizing, “I was enraged by this for a number of reasons, but here’s the primary one. That’s terrible, terrible journalism to write that article and not include the two following facts.” These facts center on the NFL’s handling of the controversial penalties that favored Mahomes and the Chiefs: the first was upheld after a review, while the second, not reviewed, was reportedly confirmed by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero to have also been upheld. Schefter neglected to mention that the NFL had validated both calls, which only served to fuel conspiracy theories by leaving out the crucial context that undermines them.
Wright further criticized Schefter’s phrasing, noting, “’Relief is on the way’, which lends real credibility to the ‘It’s rigged’ stuff. Real credibility. The morning of conference championship games from the single biggest microphone in all of sports social media – Adam Schefter’s Twitter account.” He referenced Schefter’s subsequent post filled with statistics that appeared to support claims of game-fixing benefiting the Chiefs as they aim for their fifth Super Bowl in six years.
Penalties during Chiefs’ eight-game win streak in playoffs, via @PaulHembo:
Roughing the passer:
Chiefs (0)
Opponents (6)Unnecessary roughness:
Chiefs (1)
Opponents (4) https://t.co/PyWZGslCi5— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 26, 2025
“Naked stats with no context,” Wright asserted, criticizing Schefter’s attempt to absolve himself on McAfee the previous day, where Schefter claimed he was merely presenting facts without editorializing. “Everyone likes Adam… That is so disingenuous, and everyone knows it. There is literally infinite facts out there that you can pull from at any given time. You are choosing to present these facts, which further the current internet conspiracy that either the games are rigged or the Chiefs are getting calls. So don’t act like those are neutral facts.”
Troy Aikman’s critical views on the penalties benefitting Mahomes during the divisional round made room for wider attention to Chiefs conspiracy theories. Yet Schefter’s one-sided narrative on these penalties surely invites scrutiny. If Schefter’s career in sports journalism doesn’t pan out, he may have a future as a political analyst, as his strategy of presenting selective “facts” to promote a specific narrative is reminiscent of tactics employed in political debates to create distrust and fuel conspiracies.
