INDIANAPOLIS – For nearly 24 hours, the main topic of conversation at Prime, the J.W. Marriott hotel bars and St. Elmo steakhouse hasn’t been a prospect or a veteran quarterback, although Abdul Carter’s health and Matthew Stafford’s potential landing spot have been newsy themes at this year’s combine.
It’s one reporter confronting another at a Starbucks that doubles as a confluence of influence between executives, coaches, agents and media who frequent the brew station throughout the week.
On Wednesday, FOX and Bleacher Report NFL insider Jordan Schultz (who has also worked for ESPN and the Score) confronted NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport at the Starbucks located above the J.W. Marriott lobby. The situation escalated to the point Rapoport alerted NFL Security (since he is an employee of the league), according to NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk.
Schultz did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY Sports. The NFL also confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that the league’s security apparatus had been notified.
The spirited interaction first started going viral thanks to a post on social media from Barstool Sports personality “PFT Commenter” (real name Eric Sollenberger). It didn’t become physical, but the two were face-to-face by the end of the discussion.
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Schultz briefly relayed his side of the story Wednesday to Pro Football Talk.
“It really isn’t anything too much,” Schultz told Pro Football Talk via text message. “Ian Rapoport and I had a verbal confrontation. It lasted a little over a minute. Multiple agents and reporters were nearby. Rapoport was the one who called security shortly after, but it never escalated further.”
Rapoport, on Thursday, had a chance to set the record straight during an appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“Last night when it all broke, everyone in the world texted me, wanting to know details,” Rapoport said. “And it was all out there. (Pro Football Talk) basically wrote the whole thing, so there’s not much to add. And then I woke up this morning, and everyone in the world had texted me.”
The backstory is such: Schultz reported Stafford, the Los Angeles Rams quarterback, and Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady had a meeting in Montana recently, with Brady courting him to play for the Raiders. Rapoport’s reporting on social media and the show he co-hosts, “The Insiders,” countered that Brady and Stafford had more of a casual run-in with one another in public rather than a formal meeting.
Brady’s agent, Don Yee, told a different NFL Network reporter that Schultz’s report essentially amounted to ‘an Internet rumor.’
‘There’s no issue here,’ the NFL told the Las Vegas Review-Journal regarding a potential tampering violation. ‘The Rams gave the player and his agent permission to speak to the Raiders.’
Schultz was insistent he and Rapoport speak. Rapoport did not feel that was necessary. Then the biggest story of the combine was born – or brewed.
Upon inspection Thursday afternoon, there was no yellow caution tape on the Starbucks’ premises. Nor was there an outline of a body composed of plastic coffee stoppers.
The final layer of irony: Schutlz is the son of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.
