Jameson Williams tore his ACL and there's NOTHING STRANGE about Adam Schefter's tweet about it
NOTHING
I recently wrote about why you should read every tweet carefully for subtext. Really read the words and process the “Why?” behind each one of them and then ask yourself if this makes logical sense.
Here’s a Tweet from Adam Schefter this afternoon, reporting that Alabama wide receiver Jameson Williams tore his ACL in last night’s national championship. Ask yourself why he made these statements and was sure to fit them all into a single tweet:
Why did Adam Schefter write:
“Alabama’s” - Because that’s the college
“Jameson Williams” - Because that’s the player
“the projected top WR in the 2022 NFL Draft” - Because… hmmm. Hold onto this one for a moment and we’ll get back to it.
“tore his ACL last night vs. Georgia” - Because that’s the important news
“per sources” - Because Adam Schefter has sources*
“Doctors believe that” - Well, now we appear to be going into overtime on this tweet. Why? Let’s get back to this.
“after surgery within the next 10 days” - Because that’s what Williams needs
“Williams will retain his sub 4.3 speed” - Umm, help me out, Adam, where are we going with this?
“and they expect a full recovery” - Because according to Schefter’s sources, or doctors, or I guess sources who are doctors, or doctors who play sources on TV, Jameson Williams is expected to recover from ACL surgery
All told, reports about a player tearing his ACL didn’t used to need this many characters. Schefter used to tweet news like this:
“Alabama WR Jameson Williams, a 2022 NFL draft prospect projected to go in the first round, tore his ACL last night vs. Georgia.”
Or something. That’s a bit wordy of a tweet but I wanted to be as fair as possible to anyone who takes issue with me taking issue with this tweet. But here’s information that I can’t explain without assuming that Schefter doesn’t get the reports from the sources* unless he says exactly what the sources* tell him to report:
“The projected top WR in the 2022 NFL Draft” - According to whom? What do Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave at Ohio State have to say about this report? What does Drake London at USC or Treylon Burks at Arkansas have to say about it? If Wilson had torn his ACL, would Schefter had kept in his report that Wilson was the top WR in the 2022 NFL Draft? Or would he have added that Wilson was “only the SECOND-highest projected WR” in the draft?
Perhaps Schefter is sensationalizing his report, and not reporting what he’s told by his subjects to report word-for-word like he’s known to do, but that is also not what we should expect from journalists. Why not just…the news?
I find that part to be offensive to journalistic integrity, but beyond that, Schefter adds:
“Doctors believe that, after surgery within the next 10 days, Williams will retain his sub 4.3 speed and they expect a full recovery.”
Let’s again ask why Schefter feels the need to include in his report that Jameson Williams “runs a sub-4.3” 40-yard dash, a mark that so few NFL players have ever accomplished at the NFL Scouting Combine. Especially since reports up to this point have made it clear that Jameson Williams ran a 4.4 in high school and a 4.39 at Alabama and there have been no updates since.
WHO TOLD Adam Schefter to REPORT that Jameson Williams runs a 4.29 or better?
Only 19 players have broken 4.3 at the NFL Scouting Combine in the last 21 years. Why is Schefter reporting Williams’ “expected 40-yard dash time”? Has NFL insider reporting finally gone too far?
And then… AND THEN… Adam Schefter wants you to know that “doctors believe” that Jameson Williams will make a full recovery. WILL make a recovery. WILL run a sub-4.3. Why does Schefter even think he needs to go this far to make it a point that Williams will make a full recovery from a torn ACL when we know that by now, most players do return from ACL injuries?
Why did Ian Rapoport feel the need to do the same for Michael Gallup, an upcoming free agent who tore his ACL playing for the Cowboys?
Are we getting the news or are we getting a story? There’s no denying that Schefter used to report the news. To some degree, he’s now reporting stories that he’s been told. And is it a case that if he doesn’t tell it like he’s told to tell it, they’ll tell it to somebody else next time?