NFL insider Jordan Schultz is the subject of a deep dive from Ben Strauss at the Washington Post. And it’s very clear that the son of billionaire Starbucks mogul Howard Schultz is a polarizing figure in the NFL media world, even apparently amongst his employers.
At the end of the profile it is revealed that Schultz is a free agent and looking for his next home after working the 2024 NFL season with Fox Sports. At Fox, Schultz was a reporter and insider and hosted an NFL podcast with Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green.
But according to Strauss’ reporting, Schultz ran afoul of the NFL and Fox Sports by tipping picks at this year’s NFL Draft and revealing NFL schedule news before the network was ready. Fox confirmed to the Post that Schultz no longer works for the network. And his bio has been taken off the Fox Sports website – it now redirects to a page of Fox Sports personalities. For his part, Schultz says he wasn’t planning on sticking around Fox for the upcoming season regardless after signing a one year contract.
Earlier this year during the NFL draft, Schultz reported team selections before they were officially announced on TV. The NFL reached out to Fox executives, highlighting a policy that prohibits media partners from tipping picks. Around the league’s schedule release, Schultz also prematurely broke news about a game scheduled to air on Fox before the agreed-upon time, rankling the network.
“He’s no longer on our air,” a Fox spokesman said when asked about Schultz’s status.
Schultz said his Fox contract was for a year and he planned to leave, anyway. He said he’s in negotiations with several media companies but also thinking of creating something independent that better suits his model of reporting.
The departure from Fox continues what has been a nomadic media career for Jordan Schultz with previous stops at Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, Sirius XM, Yahoo, ESPN and the Score.
Whether it’s linking up with a former employer, a sports betting company, or starting his own thing odds are that you will see Schultz making news somewhere next season. The Washington Post story on his rise in NFL media takes into account his unique upbringing as the son of a billionaire and how his fellow insiders wrestle with his resources and access. One unnamed insider compares him to what LIV Golf and Saudi money has done to the game of golf.
That tension came to a head during this year’s NFL combine when Jordan Schultz and Ian Rapoport had a meeting of the minds, appropriately enough at an Indianapolis hotel Starbucks. The encounter that was investigated by NFL security was the talk of the sports media world, centering on Rapoport allegedly badmouthing Schultz and his reporting tactics for getting scoops and Schultz confronting him about it.
While Schultz denies offering Uber stock for scoops (and Rapoport denies making that specific allegation), the Post profile does go into his close relationships with people throughout the NFL world, including going on vacations with active players and offering gifts to NFL execs.
It calls to attention once again the dilemma of modern day reporting and insiderdom where information is king and access is everything. Sometimes we even see how the sausage is made in broad daylight. But as long as there is an insatiable thirst for NFL news from the American public, there will be heated competition amongst reporters to deliver that information. By any means necessary.