Adam Schefter joined ESPN as an NFL Insider in August 2009 and appears on a variety of programs, including NFL Insiders, NFL Insiders: Sunday Edition, NFL Live, Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown, SportsCenter and more throughout the year. He also contributes regularly to other platforms, such as ESPN.com and ESPN Radio, and is part of the company’s annual NFL Draft and Super Bowl week coverage.
Schefter has covered the NFL since 1990 and is regarded as one of the top reporters in the industry, especially when it comes to breaking news. His influence also extends to Twitter where he has over four million followers.
Sports Illustrated’s NFL site, The MMQB, named him the 2014 Media Person of the Year for breaking multiple significant stories during the NFL’s free-agent period and off-season. In February 2014, Schefter was named “the most influential New Yorker on Twitter,” according to data from social media company PeerIndex.
Before joining ESPN, Schefter was a reporter/analyst for NFL Network (2004-08) and a sportswriter for the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News for more than 15 years, where he covered the NFL and the Denver Broncos. In October 2010, Sports Illustrated included Schefter in its “Power 40+,” a listing of the NFL’s most influential officials, executives, coaches, players and media members. SI also ranked him (and senior NFL Insider Chris Mortensen) at No. 13 on its list of the Most Powerful People in Sports Media in March 2013. Schefter was voted “Best Insider” three straight years USA Today conducted fan surveys.
In addition to his daily reporting, Schefter conducted extensive interviews for the 2013 Sunday NFL Countdown feature “Waiting for Wilson,” which chronicled the Seattle Seahawks’ calculated decision to draft quarterback Russell Wilson in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft. In 2010, Schefter and Mortensen departed on separate cross-country road trips for ESPN that took them to all 32 NFL training camps in 19 days, logging more than 15,000 miles combined. Mortensen concentrated on teams in the West, while Schefter focused on the East.
A former president of the Pro Football Writers of America, Schefter has authored four books, including Romo: My Life on the Edge Living Dreams and Slaying Dragons about former Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski which was on the New York Times bestseller list. Schefter also wrote books with former Broncos head coach and two-time Super Bowl champion Mike Shanahan and former Super Bowl MVP Terrell Davis. Schefter’s most recent title, The Class of Football: Words of Hard-Earned Wisdom from Legends of the Gridiron, was released in August 2009.
A native of Bellmore, New York, Schefter graduated from the University of Michigan and then, later, earned his master’s degree at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He was the Colorado Sports Writer of the Year in 2002 and 2003 and frequently appeared on ESPN’s Around the Horn and the Sports Reporters during his time with the Post.
Schefter, who is involved in a variety of philanthropic work, is active with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), acting to raise funds and awareness for Diabetes, as his wife, Sharri, is a Type 1 diabetic.
