First Call: ESPN's Adam Schefter apologizes for Dwayne Haskins tweet; Brett Michaels lobbying Steelers for specific QB in draft

Adam Schefter is apologizing for his reporting on the death of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins.

Odds are out on T.J. Watt’s perceived chances of repeating as NFL Defensive Player of the Year. A celebrity Pittsburgher is lobbying for a specific quarterback to land with the Steelers.

And a busy night in the NHL is highlighted by some Metropolitan Division showdowns.

All that in Tuesday’s “First Call.”

Apology issued

ESPN reporter Adam Schefter has issued an apology for a tweet he sent while reporting Saturday morning’s news of Dwayne Haskins’ death.

When Schefter learned that the Steelers quarterback had been killed while reportedly trying to cross a South Florida highway on foot, Schefter tweeted, “Dwayne Haskins, a standout at Ohio State before struggling to catch on with Washington and Pittsburgh in the NFL, died this morning when he got hit by a car in South Florida, per his agent Cedric Saunders. Haskins would have turned 25 years old on May 3.”

Many criticized Schefter for including Haskins’ struggles in the NFL while breaking the news of his death. Apparently, Schefter agreed as he deleted that tweet and reposted a different version of it about 20 minutes later.

Dwayne Haskins, a standout at Ohio State before becoming Washington’s first-round pick and playing in Pittsburgh, died this morning when he got hit by a car in South Florida, per his agent Cedric Saunders. Haskins would have turned 25 years old on May 3.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 9, 2022

On Monday, Schefter voiced an apology during his podcast.

“It was insensitive,” Schefter said. “It was a mistake. And I can assure you it is not my intention. I wish I could have that tweet back. The focus should have been on Dwayne — who he was as a person, a husband, a friend, and so much more. I wanted to apologize to Dwayne’s family, his friends, the players in the National Football League and offer my condolences to everybody close to Dwayne. And in the way I failed Saturday, I wanted to turn people’s attention to make sure that Dwayne is remembered properly.”

From there, Schefter spent another three minutes extolling the virtues of Haskins, mentioning his accomplishments in college, his dedicated attempts to resurrect his career with the Steelers, his love for Pittsburgh as an adopted home, and his willingness to become part of the franchise’s fan engagement and community outreach initiatives.

As apologies go, the content far outweighed the one regretful passage of his initial tweet. I just don’t know why Schefter couldn’t have done something similar on Twitter sometime Saturday or Sunday, then read his statement on Monday during the podcast.

As a result, as ProFootballTalk suggested, to some, it comes off as Schefter using the apology as a way to promote listening to his podcast.

Based on some comments under Schefter’s post of the podcast, many in the Twittersphere seem to agree and are acting like no apology will be good enough. But the only thing more popular on Twitter than virtue signaling is outrage signaling. And sometimes the two are nearly identical.

To those people, though, I’d ask for a little introspection as well.

If so many of you are going out of your way to tweet at (or about) Schefter non-stop for blurring the focus on Haskins’ death, what do you think has happened over 72 hours of never-ending, ugly commentary hurled at Schefter (and Gil Brandt, too)?

Twitter, sports talk radio and the blogosphere turned the coverage of Haskins’ death into a bigger story than the horrible accident itself.

And if the alleged initial outrage was about shifting focus away from mourning Haskins’ death, there’s an ugly irony there regarding what some people chose to focus on instead. Because, after two or three hours, let alone two or three days, one should wonder if some people attacking Schefter were honestly doing so in an attempt to make him look bad.

Or were they just trying to make themselves look good by fishing for likes and retweets?

And if so, isn’t that being even more insensitive to the memory of Haskins than what Schefter did in the first place?

Different pick

Steeler T.J. Watt isn’t favored to defend his Defensive Player of the Year title.

Browns pass rusher Myles Garrett is favored to win the award according to BetOnline.Ag. He’s listed as a +650 (13/2) favorite. Watt is next at +700 (7/1). Watt had 22.5 sacks to lead the NFL in 2021, tying Michael Strahan’s single season league record. Garrett was third in the NFL with 16.0. Chicago’s Robert Quinn came in second with 18.5.

Former Pitt Panther and current Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald is next at +750 (15/2). Former Penn State Nittany Lion Micah Parsons is fourth. The Dallas Cowboys Defensive Rookie of the Year is sitting at +900 (9/1).

Something to believe in

The folks at Steelers Depot recently found a clip from the April 5th episode of “The Rich Eisen Show,” in which University of Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral said that he may be getting some outside influence when it comes to encouraging the Steelers to draft him.

Corral and his family are longtime friends with rock star and noted Steelers fan Bret Michaels. The Butler-born and Mechanicsburg-raised lead singer of Poison even went so far as to fly Corral’s family to one of his games in November. Now, according to Corral, Michaels is pitching that the Steelers select him in the draft.

“I’ve talked to Bret throughout this process. He really wants me to land in Pittsburgh,” Corral told Eisen. “Bret’s really pushing Mr. Rooney for them to pick me. He used to live next to one of the owners of the Steelers. That was his neighbor. And I know they talk a lot. And I know he brought my name up.”

Corral didn’t specify which member of the Rooney family — or ownership in general — he was referencing. But this isn’t the first time Corral’s connection with Michaels came up on Eisen’s show.

When Michaels made a guest appearance with Eisen back in March, he spent over four minutes stumping hard for the Steelers to draft Corral at pick No. 20.

Will the Steelers actually take Corral? I suppose “Only Time Will Tell.” But if they do, I’m guessing Corral’s draft party will be “Nothin’ but a Good Time.”

I’ll show myself out.

It’s a hockey night in … well, just about everywhere

There was only one NHL game in action Monday night. The Winnipeg Jets beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2.

There are 14 games Tuesday night, though. Seven Metropolitan Division teams are in action. Six are involved in intra-divisional showdowns.

The Penguins face the Islanders for just the second time this season. The Penguins won the first game 1-0 on Nov. 26. Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals host the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Carolina Hurricanes are in New York to play the Rangers.

The New Jersey Devils are out west to face off against the Arizona Coyotes. The Columbus Blue Jackets are idle until Wednesday.

Entering play Tuesday, Carolina (102 points) has a two-point lead on the Rangers for first place in the Metro. So New York can move into a tie for the division lead with a regulation win at Madison Square Garden. The Penguins (94 points) and the Capitals (90 points) are also currently in playoff positions.