Adam Schefter now has 11.7 million followers on X, but this love is something he never expected to receive. While he is now ESPN’s senior NFL insider, before entering the reporting world, he never felt drawn to the sport. Instead, baseball has always been Schefter’s first love. But years later, he is only grateful for facing the closed door that opened to one of the best experiences in his life.
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“I was forced, forced to stay on football,” shared Schefter on The Mac Daddy Show. “Like, I tried my best to cover the Colorado Rivers, and they forced me to stay with the Broncos, who went on to win two Super Bowls in the NFL, which is, you know, the most popular sports league in our country that there is, and so I didn’t know any better. I only wanted to cover baseball, and they denied me that chance, to which I say thank you.”
Schefter started his career in print while he was a freshman at the University of Michigan. After three rejections, he landed a job at The Michigan Daily. He later earned a master’s degree at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
He then interned with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and landed his first job in 1990 with Denver’s now-defunct Rocky Mountain News, where he spent 16 years covering the Broncos before joining NFL Network in 2004. Back then, he wanted to cover MLB. But he was not given that chance, eventually became the paper’s Broncos beat reporter, and was later hired by the Denver Post in 1996. This is not the first time that Schefter has addressed how the NFL has never been his first priority.
“This is far beyond anything I would have imagined,” shared Schefter on the CNBC Sport podcast in April 2025. “Alex, I went to graduate school and really was just trying to claw my way into the business, trying to become a newspaper reporter. I would have been very happy if I had been a baseball beat writer for the rest of my life. Maybe I could have aspired to reach such great heights as becoming a sports newspaper columnist, but it was geared in those days when I went to Medill ahead of you as basically working in newspapers.
“That was what I set out to do. And I worked 16 years out in Colorado, first for the Rocky Mountain News, then the Denver Post, and loved doing it.”
From the Rocky Mountain News to the Denver Post to the NFL Network in 2004. The big break came when he moved to ESPN in 2009, and there has been no turning back since then. Back then, he joined the late Chris Mortensen as an NFL insider.
Over the years, Schefter has established himself as a prominent voice in sports reporting, breaking major NFL stories and providing real-time coverage across ESPN’s platforms. Whether it is a blockbuster trade, coaching change, free-agent signing, or contract extension, Schefter is often among the first to report the news, and still today is considered to be one of the most credible sources when it comes to the NFL.
Schefter has built one of the largest social media audiences among sports journalists, reaching millions of fans through ESPN App alerts and his social platforms. He has more than 17 million followers overall, with over 11 million on X, nearly 3 million on Instagram, more than 1.75 million on Facebook and 1 million on Threads.
In July 2025, ESPN Press Room reported that ESPN has signed Schefter to a new multi-year agreement. The new contract will keep him locked in with the company beyond 20 years.
Schefter’s NFL reporting will remain a staple across ESPN’s platforms, with regular appearances on Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown, NFL Live, The Pat McAfee Show, SportsCenter, Get Up, and First Take. He will also cover the league’s biggest events, including the NFL Draft and Super Bowl.
Now looking back at his journey, Schefter holds no regrets.