Has anyone asked for Tom Brady’s alibi?
On Tuesday morning, a hacker compromised the NFL’s official Twitter account and posted a message that controversial commissioner Roger Goodell passed away at age 57.
“We regret to inform our fans that our commissioner, Roger Goodell, has passed away,” the original tweet read. “He was 57. #RIP”
Many NFL fans online immediately suspected that the message was not authentic, while others made jokes about Goodell’s long history of mismanaging the league’s myriad scandals.
>NFL's Twitter account was hacked. Roger Goodell is working away.
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 7, 2016
The @NFL tweet has now been deleted pic.twitter.com/FGLQEj32Tc
Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 7, 2016
The NFL deleted the tweet almost immediately after it was first posted, but that didn’t keep the Internet from spreading news of Goodell’s death. Wikipedia was even edited to reflect the news of Goodell’s death:
@lachlan wikipedia page was updated (screenshot at 12:45pm). And now, he's alive again –> https://t.co/GofLC2OVXL pic.twitter.com/5qnFt9zBaU
Katherine Cresto (@kcresto) June 7, 2016
One Wikipedia editor changed Goodell’s entry to note that that the cause of death was “deflated testicles”:
While Goodell’s fans, friends, and family were undoubtedly relieved to learn that the NFL’s account had merely been hacked, not everybody rejoiced at the news:
I refuse to believe Goodell is still alive until I hear him make a bad decision with my own ears.
Michael Tanier (@MikeTanier) June 7, 2016
We regret to inform our fans that Roger Goodell is still alive.
Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) June 7, 2016
I'll never forget where I was when I learned that Roger Goodell was still alive
Fiddler (@cFidd) June 7, 2016
NFL’s instant replay system really is amazing. Huge overturn on the Goodell play, as instead of being dead, he’s alive.
Jesse Spector (@jessespector) June 7, 2016
Brady bout to get 4 more games for the nfl Twitter being suspended cause he "probably" knew about it
Bran Stark (@uglyassvirgin) June 7, 2016
Rip Roger Goodell. His obituary should read "Actually his name should've been Roger Badell"
the percolator (@grabmybutstick) June 7, 2016
Ouch.