The desire by spouses of famous athletes to defend their honor from all critics is understandable. The problem is that, in the current social media landscape, it’s hard to tell when that criticism is actually real or just a made-up quote.
Just ask Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford’s wife Kelly, who strongly defended her husband after seeing a quote by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers…which was entirely made up.
In these days of Ballsack Sports, you have to make sure you double-check every tweet is actually coming from a legitimate source and not someone who is just really good at looking authentic enough. That’s why it was so easy for a parody Twitter account called “NFC North News” to get away with posting a fake quote from Rodgers that praised Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Kelly saw the quote, which implies that Cousins would have succeeded with the Detroit Lions, where her husband previously played. She did not agree with the sentiment and took the bait.
Realizing the gift they’d been given, the spoof account decided to double-down and pretend that Rodgers personally responded to Kelly.
Alas, it was probably a bridge too far and Stafford soon acknowledged that she had been duped, though she seemed like a pretty good sport about the whole thing.
And so, we are reminded once more not to believe everything you read on the internet. Which, to be fair, would also be good advice for Aaron Rodgers…