RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 3 sourcesCredit: ESPN's Unsportsmanlike
Despite being the NFL’s premier news breaker, ESPN’s Adam Schefter maintains he wasn’t withholding news of Kyle Shanahan’s car accident.
Prior to the start of training camp, the San Francisco 49ers released a statement announcing Kyle Shanahan would be away from the team after suffering a car accident that left the head coach with 40 stitches in his face, a severe concussion, broken nose, hand, and ribs. The injuries were suffered during a car accident on July 14, 11 days before it was announced by the 49ers. And two minutes after the 49ers released their statement, Schefter posted about the news on social media and published a written report on ESPN.
The timing of Schefter’s report led many to speculate whether ESPN’s lead NFL insider knew about Shanahan’s car accident , but withheld the news until the 49ers were ready for it to be reported. During an appearance on ESPN Radio’s Unsportsmanlike Tuesday morning, host Evan Cohen asked Schefter how it took him 11 days to learn the news about Shanahan.
By the end of today, all NFL camps will be open.
– What happened with Kyle Shanahan?
– What’s the 49ers plan with moving forward with camp and potentially the regular season?
– What team is @AdamSchefter keeping an eye on during camp?
– Do we need to look at Kansas City… https://t.co/bSTyYfnY9Y pic.twitter.com/R4qmFPmiXz
— UNSPORTSMANLIKE (@UnSportsESPN) July 28, 2026
“It’s the quietest time of the NFL year,” Schefter explained. “And the 49ers did a great job of keeping things quiet. There were other people that knew. Sean McVay talked about the fact that he had a press conference and…the 49ers did some interviews with other media outlets where other people knew. It came up in those interviews. And look, the other thing is it’s a sensitive situation.”
“It’s not like a transaction where there’s a signing. There are certain things that are a little bit sensitive; people are a little bit private about certain things. And different stories move at different rhythms and paces, and that was probably the quietest week on the NFL calendar.”
Schefter didn’t directly state he didn’t know; he just attempted to present a case of how it’s possible he didn’t know. Some of the other people who knew included Chris Simms, who recently admitted he knew about Shanahan’s accident for almost the entire time that it was kept under wraps. The 49ers did some interviews with Simms in recent weeks, as Schefter appeared to allude to, mainly a longform interview with George Kittle. But Simms found out directly from Shanahan’s wife on the day of the accident, with Simms and Shanahan having a close friendship that goes back decades.
Schefter’s leading defense of it being “the quietest time of the NFL year” could also work against him. It should be harder for teams to hide any relevant news during the quietest time on the NFL calendar because there isn’t a rash of other stories to hide behind.
Maybe Schefter really didn’t know. But considering the timing of his report, it’s hard to imagine he wasn’t in touch with the 49ers about Shanahan’s accident before the team went public with their statement. It’s also hard to believe other people in NFL circles were aware of Shanahan’s accident for 11 days, and the news could have somehow escaped Schefter that entire time.
Schefter is right that it was a sensitive story, but that doesn’t excuse a reporter or journalist from their obligation to report the news. If ESPN and Schefter knew about the accident days before they reported it, it gives people reason to question their journalistic standards on this story and others.
The post Adam Schefter defends lack of Kyle Shanahan reporting: ’49ers did a great job of keeping things quiet’ appeared first on Awful Announcing .
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