Yesterday was a frantic day for those covering the NFL, and between the league’s disciplinary action against the Saints and the on-again/off-again/on-again Tim Tebow trade to the Jets, it wasn’t a great time for ESPN’s Adam Schefter’s Blackberry to go kaput. Enter then, an enterprising man or woman who helpfully filled in for Schefter during a crucial spell, as described by Sports Rantz’ Diamond Joe ;
On Tuesday, an account was registered with the handle @AdarnSchefter. Let me repeat that: @AdarnSchefter. See, the real Adam Schefter is on Twitter – though, incidentally, his tweeting day would be cut short after he dropped his Blackberry and it was rendered “inoperable”. Bad time for that to happen, considering not only the possibility of a huge story breaking while he buys a new smartphone, but the Twitter impostor going by the name of “Adarn Schefter” – that’s A-D-A-R-N, as opposed to A-D-A-M… slick, huh? – could have broken more invalid stories at the real Schefter’s expense.
“Adarn’s” bio doesn’t copy the boilerplate ESPN legal notice you find on their Twitter accounts. Instead, it tells you right away that it’s “a fake account, breaking fake news”. “Adarn” made his debut at around 3 PM Eastern time on Tuesday. Within the hour, he would tweet “news” involving retired Steelers receiver Hines Ward and NFL Draft-bound quarterback Ryan Tannehill. But the crescendo would come at the end of the hour, when he wrote: “Filed to ESPN: The Jacksonville #Jaguars have offered The Denver #Broncos a 3rd round draft pick for QB Tim Tebow.”
Some were quick to point out the fake, but others – including respected sports journalists like the New York Times’ Judy Battista – were not so lucky.