Last week, we found out Aaron Rodgers wants to play for the New York Jets this coming NFL season.
We also found out he wants ESPN’s Adam Schefter to lose his phone number, which is something the QB made clear after the ESPN reporter tried to get some info from him following his stint in a darkness retreat.
Schefter, who shared the screenshot of the text Rodgers sent him, further explained to Peter King how the moment played out and what he was trying to accomplish by reaching out to Rodgers.
This is an interesting look into what it’s like to try to confirm a big scoop, via King:
I was curious about the Schefter story, and so I asked him for his side of it. On Friday, he told me: “I’ve had his number for a while. I never once used it. Trey Wingo reported [last Monday] he was ‘hearing’ that Rodgers to the Jets was done. The day he did it, ESPN was going live from 3 to 5 on free agency. Everyone was saying Aaron Rodgers to the Jets is done. We’re on the air for two hours. I call the Jets, I call the Pack, I call Rodgers’ advisers. No one’s saying anything. So, I’m sitting there on the set with Dianna Russini. ‘Should I text Rodgers?’ She said, ‘Yeah, text him.’ At 3:35, I texted him. I say, basically: ‘Have you informed the Jets that you’d like to play there? I wanted to open it up to you.’ He didn’t respond for maybe 10 minutes. So then I called the number, got sent to voice mail. Then he texts me, ‘Lose my number. Good try tho.’ That’s all. He’s the one who says the media’s getting it wrong. I wanted to go to source and get it right. That’s all. I was just trying to do my job.” I don’t know how you do the job any differently, frankly.
Schefter did the right thing—his job. Rodgers wanted none of it, which is fine, too.
I do think it would have been funny, though, if Schefter replied with the classic Ron Burgundy “that escalated quickly” GIF.
