Report: Veteran NFL reporters get into altercation at Indianapolis Starbucks ahead of NFL Combine

There are few areas in the sports realm quite as competitive as breaking news for the National Football League. And on Wednesday evening, two of the most prominent NFL reporters got into a heated verbal discussion. The incident happened at a Starbucks in Indianapolis, Indiana, ahead of the NFL Scouting Combine. It involved Ian Rapoport of NFL Network and Jordan Schultz of FOX.

According to a report from Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, multiple sources who watched the interaction unfold, Schultz and Rapoport were engaged in a heated verbal altercation on Wednesday afternoon in the Starbucks at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis. Jordan Schultz, accosted Rapoport, according to the report.

The incident gained attention when PFT Commenter (also known as Eric Sollenberger) posted a tweet on Wednesday evening referring to a “serious big time media confrontation” between “two NFL newsbreakers.”

The fact that it happened at a Starbucks is an interesting coincidence since Schultz is the son of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. Rapoport was reportedly talking to an agent, when Schultz approached him and said, “We need to talk.” Rapoport replied, “We don’t need to talk.”

Schultz made accusations about Rapoport, sources told Pro Football Talk. Rapoport thought the accusations were false. The two men were basically face-to-face.

“If you have anything to say it to me, say it to my f——g face,” Schultz said. “If this continues we’re going to have a f——g problem.” Schultz would later say that he did not remember using profanity in the argument.

Rapoport then asked Schultz to step back from him. “If this happens again, we’re gonna have a f—–g problem,” Schultz said. “Now I’ll step back.”

The incident was reported to NFL Security, and they also took statements from multiple witnesses who watched it unfold. The NFL did not immediately respond for a request for comment from Pro Football Talk.

What started the verbal argument was Jordan Schultz’s Wednesday report on Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford. Schultz reported that Stafford recently met with the Las Vegas minority owner Tom Brady in Montana. Rapoport tried to throw cold water on the report, calling it an “unplanned” meeting between Brady and Stafford. Schultz did not agree that it was a random encounter between the two.

It sounds like the tension between the two reporters had been escalating. We’ll have to see what happens in the near future and if cooler heads can prevail.