Part 2 of 2

So you want to be Adam Schefter?

ESPN’s NFL reporter is on 24-hour call. He carries a Blackberry and iPhone, both of which are in constant overdrive.

Just from spending a few hours with him during Schefter’s recent visit to Northwestern, you can see it appears to be a manic existence.

“It’s constant,” Schefter said. “It never stops.”

In part 1, I talked to Schefter about his Twitter plans for the NFL draft. In today’s Q/A, he addresses Twitter; ESPN’s credit issues; the pressure to be No. 1; and the real reasons why he doesn’t take a vacation.

You have more than 2.2 million followers on Twitter. Is that amazing to you?

I like to say I paid off a bunch of people to follow me. I honestly can say I don’t even think about it. At some point, you get numb to it. It becomes just a number.

When I first started in 2009, you’d see these numbers: 50,000 followers, then 80,000. It used to blow me away. That doesn’t happen anymore.

I’m flattered that people take an interest in me. I’m not stupid enough to realize that people are there for football information. They are there for their fantasy football updates, injury updates. People thank me for helping them win their leagues. I didn’t even make the playoffs in one of my leagues.

It’s not me; it’s what I do.

How much is Twitter a part of what you do?

100 percent of my job is to report information for ESPN. Ninety-five percent of that gets posted on Twitter. Fortunately or unfortunately, Twitter has become a journalistic scorecard. Who has the story first? It’s absurd. It’s ridiculous.

Stories like the Mike Rice story are unique enough to where the credits last. But there also are so many trades, signings that are of the garden mill variety.

Does it matter if somebody reported something two minutes before someone else? Please, it’s so insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

But isn’t there pressure to be first with the story?

Nobody says, ‘You must get this.’ Yet having said that, nobody puts more pressure on myself than me. We’re all self-driven. If I miss a story, I don’t like it. I can’t stand the feeling. That’s what drives you to make that extra call, to send that extra text.

What about the criticism that ESPN doesn’t give enough credits to outside outlets who break news?

You don’t hear me asking for credit.

I will say this, and I want it stated clearly: ESPN does a great job of giving other people credit. ESPN gives more credit to other (outlets) than any other newspaper, network, blog site. By far. It really irks me when people accuse ESPN of not giving credit. I will defend my network to the hilt here.

We’re a big target. We’re under constant scrutiny. I had people tell me when I got there, it’s like playing for the Yankees. If anything goes slightly wrong, it draws more criticism than anything else. They were right.

Today, I did a podcast (at Northwestern). After I’m done, I look on my Blackberry and see Julian Edelman re-signed with the Patriots. So I put it on Twitter.  I then found out USA Today reported it eight minutes ago. Damn.

So I erased the tweet and put up a new tweet that said the Patriots had signed Edelman as reported by Mike Garafolo of USA Today.

Why did you do that?

Mike has been very gracious to me. I wanted to reciprocate.

I don’t want to insult anybody. I don’t anyone to say, ‘ESPN is not giving someone proper credit.’

It’s the world we live in.

What is your world like? Even during this interview, you’re constantly checking your Blackberry and iPhone.

It’s constant. More people are vying for more information than ever before. There’s the need for speed. I’m so thankful I spent 16 years covering a newspaper beat (the Denver Broncos). Your story would appear on the doorstep at 6 a.m. and it would live for 24 hours. Now you get 24 seconds to rest up and we’re on to something else. It never stops. The news cycle is on steroids.

It’s not that Twitter overtakes your life. It’s the job that overtakes your life. It’s a challenge. I try to do my best when we’re out to dinner at a restaurant not to leave my phone on. But then if you’re 2-3 minutes late with a story, you’re late. People say, ‘Where were you?’

‘Well, I was eating a hamburger. Can I do that?’

It’s crazy.

You received some attention because you said you never take a vacation in a recent interview. Apparently, there is more to it. Can you elaborate?

We have two kids and five dogs. I wanted to stop at three dogs. My wife (Sharri) wanted four and five. So we compromised and got four and five.

My wife is uncomfortable leaving the kids and the dogs. She won’t put the dogs in a kennel. They are like our children.

Second, and most important, my wife is a 9/11 widow. She doesn’t like to fly. It’s not something she chooses to do.

Not taking a vacation is something I don’t choose to do. I wish we could take a vacation. I wish my wife wanted to fly more. It just happens that there are some extenuating circumstances involved here.

My boss, Seth Markman, has a mandate for me. He says I must take a one-week vacation during the off-season where I don’t bring the Blackberry and iPhone and cut myself off from civilization. As much as I would love to take him up on that, it’s just not going to happen.

Steve Carell recently visited Bristol and you did a bit with him. What was that like?

It was the coolest thing ever. We were in make-up, and he’s a big Patriots fan. I told him Wes Welker just signed with the Broncos. He had no idea.

We did the scene during commercials (of SportsCenter). You know what was amazing about it? He does the first take. He says, ‘Can we do it again?’ I thought it was very good, but it wasn’t good enough for him. So we did it again, and that’s the one we used.

Part 1 of 2

The NFL draft begins Thursday, which means Adam Schefter will engage in the Twitter tap dance again.

To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question.

Last year, Schefter and other NFL reporters came under fire for tweeting out picks and draft news during the first night. They were the spoilers, much like telling people in a movie theater how the film is going to end as they walked in.

Schefter was in essence scooping his network. While Chris Berman & Co. speculated on air about whom the Bears, or any other team, will select, Schefter’s followers already know the answer. There goes the suspense.

Wrote John Mitchell of Breakingtackles.com:

What is the cost of being the first to report the draft picks? 1.5 million followers being robbed of the draft experience. You want Roger Goodell to be the first to announce the draft pick. Not an ESPN reporter who happens to find out the information before anyone else.

In a post at ShermanReport after Round 1, Schefter defended his tweets. “When I learn information, it’s my job to report it,” he said.

However, it was interesting that Schefter seemed to dial down his tweeting the following night for the second round.

Schefter now has 2.3 million followers, and many of them will be hanging on his every tweet during the first round Thursday night. During a recent visit to Northwestern, where he received a graduate degree in journalism, I asked Schefter about his Twitter plans for this year’s draft.

Schefter took a breath. “There becomes the big story, the elephant in the room.”

Here’s my Q/A:

What is the plan?

Last year, we revised our policy to a certain extent (between Round 1 and 2). Even in some in round 1, we did it. Basically, what my boss (Seth Markman) said going into round 1: “I don’t want you tweeting every first round pick.”

I’m not going to report standard picks. If a team is sitting still at 15, I’m not going to tweet (that pick). In other words, mundane, Run-of-the mill picks, leave alone. But if it’s a quarterback or a bold move, have at it. ESPN places no restrictions on me (in that regard).

So why was there so much uproar last year?

I don’t know. I still don’t know.

There were big trades going involving picks. Eight of the top 10. Am I supposed to ignore that. Not say anything? This the world we live in. To a lot of people, it’s a Twitter world. I’m sorry about that, but I’m reporting what I’m getting. These are big trades to me. Am I wrong or right?

Last year, I found out about the Patriots trade to move up to take Chandler Jones. (The Jones tweet) was the one that offended a lot of people. And Chandler Jones was not necessarily a name you were hearing in the first round. He made a late charge to become the top defensive end in the draft. The Patriots trade up to take the best defensive end in the draft. I got the story. So now I’m not supposed to report that?

Do you understand why people were frustrated?

I understand people’s frustrations. I am not trying to report picks before (they are revealed on the telecast) and take away from the drama.

There’s a simple solution. Don’t follow me during the draft.

Fans, though, follow you and others because they want information during the draft above and beyond what they get from the telecasts.

What do you want? Do you want information or do you not want information? It’s a difficult process.

What was said to you between the first and second round last year?

We don’t want you reporting on any picks.

They said that to you?

Basically. During the second round, only one or two picks are headline worthy. If it is the headline of that day, and I’m fortunate enough to get that pick, I’m going to report it.

I am almost certain–not to put words in someone’s mouth–that the NFL has to spoken to ESPN and ESPN has told me to be more selective about what I’m tweeting in advance. I am trying to be as considerate as possible and tweet everything we’re getting, but I am going to tweet the headline-making items.

The Tim Tebow thing (in 2011). We had that pick (the Broncos drafting him). I’m telling the producers, ‘Send it over to me.’ They never got to me. I tweeted it after they didn’t get to me. It’s crazy.

How do you think it will go this year?

For ESPN, the NFL, the fan, it’s a whole new Wild West world we live in. How do we watch this? How do we report this? There are no traditions. There are no formulas.

I’m a draftnik. I used to stay at home from school to watch the draft. But I also have a job to do. It’s a judgment call. I’m trying to report the headlines that are making news if I am lucky enough to get them. You don’t always get this stuff. I don’t want it to sound like this stuff just pops up for us. It’s hard to work to get those stories. If I’m fortunate enough to get a headline-making item, I’m going to report it.

Tomorrow: Schefter on his love-hate relationship with Twitter and the pressure to be first.