Schefter, ESPN’s top NFL insider, was the first to report Haskins’ death. He made the announcement on Twitter at 10:58 a.m. ET.
MORE: Latest details about Dwayne Haskins’ death
However, Schefter’s initial tweet was viewed by many as insensitive. Why? Because he painted Haskins in an unflattering light while announcing the QB’s passing.
The tweet, which has now been deleted after receiving backlash, read, “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 took issue with Schefter’s lacking empathy in the tweet about Haskins’ death. They questioned why it was necessary to bring up Haskins’ struggles at the NFL level.
Schefter quickly realized that he had made a mistake. He deleted the tweet 20 minutes after sending it and replaced it with a reworded announcement.
However, that didn’t stop screenshots of Schefter’s original tweet from making the rounds.
MORE: T.J. Watt, Urban Meyer, Joe Burrow react to Dwayne Haskins’ death
Lamar Jackson was among several NFL athletes that saw Schefter’s tweet. The Ravens’ quarterback took aim at the ESPN personality and called him “lame” in a tweet of his own.
Cardale Jones, a former NFL quarterback who played at Ohio State from 2012 through 2016, was also angered by Schefter’s choice of words. Jones took to Twitter to suggest an alternate way for him to describe Haskins after his death.
Meanwhile, former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant wasn’t surprised by Schefter’s tweet. Bryant took time on Twitter to explain that the original tweet showcases that a lot of people don’t care enough to humanize athletes.
Schefter has yet to comment on his original tweet since deleting it. It’s unclear whether he plans to apologize, but it seems that players across the NFL, including Haskins’ former teammate Joe Haden, believe that he should.
