Adam Schefter ‘Mistakenly’ Fired — ESPN’s Tech Staff Bricked His Devices Hinting At His Dismissal
Adam Schefter recently had his devices go blank. Typically, corporations brick devices when they intend to let the user go, but interestingly, Schefter’s devices going dark wasn’t an indication of him being fired.
One of ESPN’s most treasured NFL insiders, Adam Schefter, who appears to be forever engrossed with his mobile devices and laptop, must have had one hell of a surprise when he suddenly had his devices black out. For no apparent reason, Schefter had his mobile phone, which he uses to check and chime in on Twitter feeds and source breaking news, as well as laptop deactivated by ESPN, reported Bleacher Report.
Normally, deactivation of devices is a routine procedure when the person who holds those devices is being terminated from service. ESPN-NFL senior producer Seth Markman first noticed the situation and tweeted that Schefter’s devices had been deactivated as a result of his name being “accidentally” placed on the company’s termination list.
Sources: Someone at ESPN "accidentally" placed @AdamSchefter on the terminated list. Devices have been deactivated. Looking for suspects
— Seth Markman (@tunasweasel) August 21, 2015
What’s surprising is that such a thing seems to have happened in the past, indicated the victim.
Been through this before. Not any easier to take 2nd time around. Do want to thank all the great people at ESPN. https://t.co/vI4j6mDObm
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 21, 2015
Knowing well that ESPN won’t inform Schefter about his dismissal in such a crude and heartless way, he reached out to the department that would have approached him if he was indeed being let go. The HR Dept. confirmed that Adam Schefter is very much in the employment of ESPN and someone must have goofed-up, bad:
IT just told me HR confirmed to them that I have not been fired (whew). Now they need to figure out how to re-activate my Iphones and laptop
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 21, 2015
It is obvious that if not Schefter, the person who was responsible for bricking his devices is sure to get fired or a serious verbal lashing, not to mention possibly facing a departmental inquiry. An internal investigation could be underway to find out what exactly happened and whether it was accidental or a deliberate act, reported MSN.
Fortunately, it seems order has been restored, and Schefter’s devices have been reactivated as evident from the steady stream of tweets from the correspondent later in the day.
49ers have traded TE Derek Carrier to Washington for a fifth-round pick, a trade @mattbarrows suggested was in the works. TE help for Wash.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 21, 2015
Adam Schefter is always seen fiddling with his phone, and ESPN viewers swear he gets the best NFL scoops. Some hawk-eyed viewers have even spied Schefter messaging in between a live broadcast. Hence, it must have been quite nerve-wracking for him to see no emails or messages and go without his steady stream of news updates for 14 hours straight. The poor man nearly missed his appearance on SportsCenter because he didn’t see an e-mail from the producer until several hours after it was sent, reported Beta Boston.
[Image Credit | Mike McGregor / Getty Images]
