In a world where information is currency, sports media insiders are notoriously glued to their cell phones. Missing a text, call, or email from a source can make or break a scoop you're trying to land and in the information age, there's never any downtime in the newscycle.
Given this reality, being a patron at the Masters—where phones are prohibited by Augusta National Golf Club—isn't the best environment for said sports insiders, but that didn't stop ESPN's Adam Schefter. He shared on a recent episode of his The Adam Schefter Podcast that he was in attendance this weekend to see Rory McIlroy capture his career Grand Slam and that while it was a "mythical" experience, he wasn't a fan of being cut off from the outside world:
"On a personal note? Being at the Masters, the one thing that's amazing about it is you're not allowed to have your phone at all," Schefter explained. "You have to check your phone. And so I go into Thursday and Friday petrified of what's gonna happen. Is Aaron Rodgers gonna come back today while I'm on the golf course? Are the Tennessee Titans gonna trade the No. 1 overall pick? Is Deion Sanders gonna say that Shedeur's playing in this city of nowhere else? Like what's gonna happen while you're on the course."
The insider went on to say, at the 31:37 mark of the video below, that a fan on the course actually tricked him into thinking a major NFL trade happened while he was at the course, sans cell phone.
"I had this one, I would say 20-year-old kid come running up to me," said Schefter. "And he goes, 'Did you hear about the humungous NFL trade?!' And my heart dropped. This was on the 6th hole... And I'm like, 'No?' And he's like, 'I'm only kidding.'
"That wasn't that funny. I gotta be honest with you... and he scared the crap out me, to be honest with you. Like my heart dropped into my stomach when he said that. But it was an unbelievable experience to be there, other than that one little moment on the course of Friday."
Fortunately for Schefty, no massive NFL news broke this weekend, and he should now be in clear for the lead-up into next week's NFL draft.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Adam Schefter Laments NFL Fan's Prank That Scared Him While at Masters Without Phone.
