Adam Schefter unintentionally doubles down on ESPN's George Pickens, Brandin Cooks mistake

ESPN insider Adam Schefter was unaware that a video clip on Tuesday’s episode of First Take mistook Brandin Cooks for George Pickens. ESPN erroneously stated that a video of Cooks taken in 2023 was Pickens catching a touchdown on the first play of training camp.

First Take host Molly Qerim later apologized for the mistake and corrected that it was not Pickens in the video. But despite being on the show at the time the blunder occurred, Schefter had no idea what had happened 24 hours later.

The NFL reporter joined 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Wednesday morning, where co-host Shan Shariff asked him when he realized that “Brandin Cooks was not George Pickens.” Schefter seemed confused by the question, and answered it as if Shariff meant for him to compare the two players.

“Yesterday? You mean like, George Pickens coming out and catching a touchdown on the first play of practice, is that what you mean?” Schefter asked. “Here’s the thing, you want to equate those two players. If George Pickens carried himself the way that Brandin Cooks did, George Pickens would be the greatest wide receiver in the league. That’s what George Pickens is trying to pick up. Because Brandin Cooks is a pro. He might not be as talented as George Pickens, but he’s a pro.”

It seemed apparent then that Schefter still did not know that the video shown on First Take was indeed not Pickens. Shariff clarified what he was talking about and asked whether Schefter was aware.

“I’m alluding to the ESPN video that went viral with you guys on set showing the Cowboys practicing when that was from a couple years ago,” Shariff said. “Are you not aware of that?”

Adam Schefter confirmed that he did not know about the viral moment from ESPN. It is a bit surprising since he was on set at the time, but he does deal with a lot of different things in his day-to-day, and is likely busy with training camp starting.

As for how ESPN made the original mistake, the network obtained a social media post from the account FergSZN, who said that Dak Prescott threw a TD pass to George Pickens. But the video was originally from Cowboys reporter Kyle Youmans, who was at the team’s training camp in 2023 and filmed Brandin Cooks making the play.

Now the error has created two viral moments out of it, with Schefter’s ignorance of the situation catching the attention of some. The job of a breaking news reporter is a grind for sure, and perhaps he was juggling a lot at once and simply didn’t see it.