2/18/2015: Schefter Blows Up ESPN's Earlier Story

Ben Volin ✔ @BenVolin
Interesting: @AdamSchefter just reported that Jim McNally was given footballs from 2 league employees, one of whom has since been fired


Mark Daniels @MarkDanielsPJ
@AdamSchefter drops a bomb and says one of the officials who handled the balls in the AFC championship was fired.


Mark Daniels @MarkDanielsPJ
The unnamed official stole one of the balls because he was going to send it off to his side business. Another ref noticed in game

Jeff Howe @jeffphowe
Bahahahaha RT @BartHubbuch: ESPN: Unnamed NFL official sold one of the Deflategate balls and has been fired. Wow.



@MarkDanielsPJ
Mr. Kraft might want to get ready for that apology...

Tight ship that NFL runs.........

BradyManny said:

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So ESPN just screwed ESPN.

I ain't ISIS, but I want heads to roll for this.

"Welcome back to hot take, Todays Top story, Should BB be suspended for a year for getting an nfl official fired for stealing footballs?"

Sorry, I had half of my thyroid taken out yesterday. Maybe that's why I'm confused. What the hell are they on about now? How does any of this fall into the Patriots doing something wrong?

Smessy's OP as told by Mike Lokyo's Twitter feed

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 6m6 minutes ago
.@AdamSchefter report on OTL just DESTROYED ALL THE OTL reporting and basically points the finger at the OFFICIALs

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 6m6 minutes ago
League Official was supposed to handle balls and send one off to a charitible enterprise. League Official stole balls and was fired from NFL

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 6m6 minutes ago
League Officials 2 Noticed that Balls were missing went back to the locker room got different balls and gave them to Jim MacNally..

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 5m5 minutes ago
All this is on tape according to @AdamSchefter .. basically the League Officials are going to come out F'D in all this

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 4m4 minutes ago
Per @AdamSchefter after the game balls are checked Official 1 takes the balls and brings them around for "charitible endevores for the NFL

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 4m4 minutes ago
Turns out that Official 1 took some of those balls for himself before AFC Championship Game.. Official 2 then notices that there are balls..

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 4m4 minutes ago
Missing so he goes back to the LR to get new game balls and gives those to Jim McNally.. NFL Has fired League Official #1 already.. and all

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 4m4 minutes ago
this is caught on tape.

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 3m3 minutes ago
@AdamSchefter just poured gasoline all over OTL, @bkravitz , ESPN, @mortreport and lit the match himself.

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 3m3 minutes ago
.@AdamSchefter has stayed so quiet on DeflateGate, it's like he finally said F it.

Mike Loyko ‏@NEPD_Loyko 6m6 minutes ago
Might be time for Bob Kraft to start demanding some draft picks and compensation for all this harasment and defamation

So is McNally doing anything wrong or...?

LOOOOOOOOOOOOL @ the league and ESPN.

I guess Outside the Lines should have talked to Adam Schefter before running their "exclusive."

But wait! The ESPN writer who did this story said Jim McNally knew he was giving the alternate official an illegal ball. So this whole story is just a leak to make the Pats look bad. ESPN is covering themselves in glory.

So basically:

Official No. 1 took gameballs before the game. Subsequently fired.
Official No. 2 notices this; goes back to LR and gives new, unauthorized balls to McNally, who tries to put them in play. Confusion ensues.

After staying virtually silent for a month, Schefter basically took a **** on this whole thing.

My opinion this is the leak that will change public sentiment enough for them to believe the Wells report is not a cover up when we get vindicated.

Maybe wishful thinking on my part but without this falling on the NFL being wrong no one was going to think it wasn't a cover up if we were found innocent.

When a mob forms someone gets hanged and if these rumors are true the NFL might be ready to take the hit instead of us.

But I don't know what to really think I can't believe reporters today that I was calling morons yesterday. And the whole sports media has no credibility in my opinion. I don't care if Schefter and Reiss or anyone else might actually be clean because they work in an industry with no journalistic integrity. Sports reporters in my opinion a worse than ambulance chasing lawyers.

BadMoFo said:

I guess Outside the Lines should have talked to Adam Schefter before running their "exclusive."

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That's the thing. . . . Schefter never passed along Deflategate rumors before when it was Leakapalooza, so it's interesting that he's doing this now.

BradyManny said:

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Goat gif

This whole thing has more ridiculous twists than that Futurama clip of The Scary Door where the guy turns out to be Hitler on an airplane.