Adam Schefter's Tweets Had People Thinking the Falcons Had a COVID Outbreak

The Atlanta Falcons had a brush with COVID-19 this week. This morning Adam Schefter reported via Twitter that the Falcons were shutting down their facility after "multiple" positive tests. He followed that up with a tweet saying there were four positive tests.

It looked like the NFL had the start of its latest outbreak, but is that the case? Uh, nope. Not at the moment.

An hour later Schefter tweeted again saying that there was just one positive test and it was not a player. It turned out to be an assistant coach and the league even said the Falcons could return to their facilities this afternoon.

I know when we're playing with Twitter rules here, but shouldn't this be considered a correction? Gossip is the Devil's telephone and he reported "multiple" and "four" cases and it sounded like their game was in jeopardy. That deserves more than an "update."

The public is primed to react strongly to news of positive coronavirus tests in football and this is not the first time that Schefter has been part of the hype machine. A week before the Titans outbreak hit, Schefter teased news that senior VP of officiating Al Riverton had tested positive as "the NFL's first notable case of COVID."