"One afternoon, McAfee wanted Schefter on his program," Marchand reports. "Schefter was appearing on an ESPN2 free agency special and was unable to make it. Schefter, formerly a McAfee Show regular, has been banished ever since."

The sports media star's stratospheric rise has been built on unpredictability paired with a showman's sense of their audience.

Adam Schefter is the biggest name in NFL reporting and arguably ESPN's most important insider. However, even he wasn't big enough to avoid a ban from a popular show on the network. According to a new report from media insider Andrew Marchand of The Athletic,