ESPN's tenured NFL reporter in Adam Schefter recently got involved in a spat regarding a controversial COVID-19 report with Gabrielle Gilmore, the wife of Patriots star cornerback and reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Stephon Gilmore, according to CBS Boston.
“Cam Newton and Stephon Gilmore had dinner Friday night,” Schefter said on WEEI on Wednesday morning. “I don’t know where they ate, but they had dinner together Friday night.”
The report caused waves especially after Newton tested positive for COVID-19 followed by Gilmore who also contracted the virus after playing 100% of the snaps in their Week 5 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Schefter defended the validity of his report and relented on the “out” to dinner portion of the story.
“I was doing a radio show. I don’t remember the specific language that I said,” Schefter shared with WEEI. “I thought I said that they had dinner together. Maybe I said they were out to dinner. I don’t remember, OK, the semantics, again, because I don’t know exactly where they had dinner, to be perfectly frank. But I don’t believe it was out to dinner, like out in Boston. Right, but they had dinner together on Friday night.”
Gilmore's wife fired back and defended her husband with a tweet afterward:
“There was no dinner out,” she posted via Twitter. “I’m going to help you out so you guys stop reporting false news.”
Adam Schefter's initial report on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia indicated that the two players were “spotted” having dinner together. It is an indication that the Patriots teammates must have been in public for their meal in order to have been seen.
“I was told that, in the New England area over the weekend, that Cam Newton and Stephon Gilmore were spotted having dinner together on Friday night,” Schefter said last week while reporting The Great Dinner News of 2020. “And I was aware of that over the weekend. So to hear that he tested positive, I gotta be honest, is not overly surprising to me. You know, if you’re at a dinner table with somebody who’s got the virus, there’s a chance — I would think — that you’re going to get the virus.”
Schefter's previous wavering regarding the exact location where the dinner took place exposed some shakiness in the authenticity of his report.
“Well I have great respect for Stephon Gilmore and Mrs. Gilmore. I am not looking to refute anybody,” Schefter said on WEEI, while simultaneously at least lightly refuting Mrs. Gilmore. “They weren’t out to dinner but I’m just going to say that — and I don’t know why this is an issue. Like, Cam Newton tested positive early Saturday morning. The night before, Stephon Gilmore and Cam Newton had dinner. That’s all.”
Both players continue to remain on the sidelines for the Patriots as they are still recovering from the virus. They will also most likely be unavailable to play in the team's next game against the Denver Broncos on October 18. With both sides not giving an inch with regards to the facts of the story, it only leaves both Newton and Gilmore to know what truly transpired behind closed doors.
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