SI

The Adam Schefter vs. Ian Rapoport Tiff Has a Juicy Twist

John Harbaugh’s firing led to contradictory reports from two top NFL insiders.

Jimmy Traina

Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport have different stances on John Harbaugh’s firing.
Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport have different stances on John Harbaugh’s firing. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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1. The “insider” wars aren’t nearly as spicy these days as they used to be. Everyone seems to be playing nice because they don’t want to fight on social media and give content to people like me.

So, we couldn’t help but perk up when we saw ESPN’s Adam Schefter aggressively shoot down a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport.

Rapoport reported on Tuesday’s episode of The Insiders that John Harbaugh had lost the Ravens’ locker room and that was the reason for his firing.

This seemed like a very believable reality given the recent Baltimore Sun article about Lamar Jackson that claimed the quarterback fell asleep in meetings, wasn’t prepared and wasn’t a leader.

However, Schefter took direct aim at Rapoport’s report during a Wednesday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.

“I don’t think that information right there could be any less true,” Schefter said. “The players were coming to his office crying, hugging him, sending him goodbyes, calling him one by one. If they felt that way, why are Mark Andrews and Zay Flowers and Isaiah Likely and all these players coming in crying, hugging him, giving him these long, warm goodbyes. I’m not buying that.”

Schefter added, “Sometimes, nobody does anything wrong, you go on for 18 years, and it’s time for everybody to go a different direction. It’s O.K. Nobody has to do something wrong. There doesn’t have to be some salacious reason. There doesn’t have to be some fight or something like that. Sometimes, it could just be they fell short the past few years.”

Harbaugh still could’ve lost the locker room even with everything Schefter said right there being true, but that’s not what makes this back-and-forth interesting. What makes Schefter throwing cold water all over Rapoport’s report interesting is that these two are set to become colleagues soon. It’s not difficult to question another reporter when you aren’t on the same team. But what will happen in cases like this when the two are teammates?

ESPN has purchased the NFL Network. The sale will become official once it gets government approval, which I’m hearing will happen sooner than later.

I was already very curious to see how Schefter and Rapoport would co-exist since they do the same exact job. This little episode only increases the curiosity factor.

2. A brand-new SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped today. This week’s guest is ESPN workhorse Laura Rutledge.

Rutledge talks about her various jobs, which include NFL Live, SEC Nation, Monday Night Football and sideline reporting during the college football playoffs.

In addition, Rutledge shares her side of recent “controversies” regarding her postgame interviews with Justin Herbert and Sam Darnold and discusses getting the Chris Berman treatment for her viral sprint from doing a halftime interview to the set to host halftime of the Sugar Bowl.

Rutledge also talks about her worst halftime interview, the job she likes the most and what she watches in the little downtime she gets and much more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

3. The list of the top 100 most watched telecasts of 2025 is basically all sports. Here’s a little game for you. The NFL is responsible for the top 28 slots minus President Trump’s State of the Union coming in at No. 9.

Which sporting event broke the NFL’s streak and came in at No. 29?

You can find the answer here.

4. Preseason national champion picks from a variety of people in the college football sports media world couldn’t have gone worse.

5. I’m sure Tom Brady is a HUGE Pizza Hut eater. Is the $375 million he makes from Fox not enough? Does he really need to do this?

6. Good betting nugget for all my fellow degenerates regarding this weekend’s wild-card games.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I don’t know how I’ve had a job finding stuff on the internet for almost 20 years without ever seeing this video until this morning, but here is legendary Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino struggling to film a commercial.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

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JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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