Yes, Ian Rapoport missed breaking a story because he didn’t have his phone.
It’s hard to believe, but the NFL Network insider recounted a time that was the case during a recent appearance on the Awful Announcing podcast. Rapoport informed host Brandon Contes that a couple of incidents stand out, but one in particular sent him through the roof.
“I’ve gotten mad before. I don’t get mad a lot; I really don’t,” he said. “Because if you emotionally, deeply live and die by every scoop, you’re not going to last in this job very long. But maybe the maddest I’ve ever been was we still lived in Dallas, and my oldest, who is now almost 11, was like five months old. It was during coaching search season, and I was pretty sure Lovie Smith was going to the Bucs.
“My oldest was being fussy. I took him downstairs from the couch and upstairs to change him. I left my phone on the couch, and I was like, ‘Ahh!’ I say to my wife, I’m like, ‘Hey, do me a favor, when you come up, bring my phone up.’ And she’s like, ‘I’m washing bottles, I’ll be right up.’ Probably like six minutes later, she comes running up the stairs.”
Rapoport’s wife, Leah, informed him that his phone rang twice — the same number.
“I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I knew this was it,'” Rapoport recalls. “And I call the person, ‘Lovie’s going to the Bucs; why didn’t you answer?’ ‘I was changing my child.'”
Rapoport asked if anyone had reported on it and came to find out that the NFL on Fox’s Jay Glazer had beat him to the punch.
“I was so mad,” Rapoport says. “And (my wife) was like, ‘Listen, if the worst thing that happens to you is you missed out on the story because you were changing your son, you’ll be OK.’ In which case, I didn’t want to hear that at that time — she’s right.”
Rapoport also described another time bad luck cost him a scoop. In 2022, he had a strong lead on the DK Metcalf contract extension with the Seahawks. Unfortunately, he was stuck on a plane without internet access during the crucial moment. By the time he landed, the news had already broken, leaving him with a pile of messages about a story he’d missed.
“There’s always going to be those, but the Lovie Smith one sticks out for me, no doubt,” he said.
The Rapoport episode of the AA podcast will be released on Friday, July 12. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.