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When National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell is under attack, as he so often is these days, @forargument is there to fight back.
Wait, who?
The Twitter account, under the name “Jones smith,” has no followers, no profile picture and has been virtually dormant for long periods since its creation in 2014.
But @forargument has roared to life in the past few months, rising up to vigorously defend Mr. Goodell against perceived attacks on his handling of issues such as the national anthem protests by players.
The most frequent sparring partner for @forargument is the nation’s sports media. On Sept. 26, @ProFootballTalk, the Twitter account for the popular NBC Sports blog, tweeted that it was “on the commissioner” to solve the anthem issues.
In response, @forargument tweeted: “Please do better reporting. He is already doing this. You are behind.”
Who is this valiant defender of a man who has so few defenders?
It is Roger Goodell’s wife, Jane Skinner Goodell, The Wall Street Journal confirmed after an examination of the account.
“It was a REALLY silly thing to do and done out of frustration—and love.” Mrs. Goodell said Thursday afternoon in a written statement. “As a former media member, I’m always bothered when the coverage doesn’t provide a complete and accurate picture of a story. I’m also a wife and a mom. I have always passionately defended the hard-working guy I love—and I always will. I just may not use Twitter to do so in the future!”
Within an hour after the Journal reached out to Mrs. Goodell and the NFL, the account was made private. Later, it was taken down completely.
“Sounds like what she did is what every spouse in America would want to do,” said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy.
Mrs. Goodell, a former broadcaster, is punching back at a trying time for her husband. The league is in a feud with President Donald Trump over some players’ decisions to kneel during the national anthem. It is embroiled in a legal fight with one of its top stars, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, over a disciplinary issue. The league’s strong TV ratings have sagged the past two seasons.
And the commissioner has a lucrative contract extension—one that is reportedly close, but not yet completed—hanging in the balance.
Amid this firestorm, Mrs. Goodell has covertly worked to change the narrative. All of the 14 tweets from Mrs. Goodell since August are defenses of Mr. Goodell in reply to various publications, including the Journal and prominent sports commentators.
Throughout the guerrilla social-media campaign, however, nobody has been paying attention. None of those tweets have elicited replies, likes or retweets.
But @forargument is nothing if not consistent in its support for the commissioner.
In reply to an ESPN article about the NFL’s response to Mr. Trump’s attacks, @forargument admonished the two reporters involved: “Reads like press release from players’ union. You can do better reporting. (D Smith sounds like D Trump with the inaccurate firebombs).” DeMaurice Smith is the head of the NFL Players Association.
“The premise of your article is silly,” @forargument tweeted on Oct. 3 at the Journal after an article about disagreement among league owners over handling of the anthem protests. “What board of directors in this country would all agree on this issue?”
“Why is everyone so immature? (including you?),” @forargument scolded Journal columnist Jason Gay in August.
Her most recent tweet was in response to a tweet from NBC News’s presidential historian, who tweeted a picture of a newspaper article from 1970 titled “Agnew Continues Attack on GOP Senator Goodell,” who is the commissioner’s father.
@forargument replied: “Goodell courageous & was right in the end. Leadership is hard. Commish is doing same. Give him credit.”
Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN, Comcast Corp.’s NBC and Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Journal, either couldn’t be immediately reached or didn’t have an immediate comment.
It wasn’t her tweets that gave @forargument away. It was some of the people she follows.
In total, @forargument follows 46 accounts. Between the national outlets, prominent athletes and others (such as Taylor Swift, Ryan Seacrest and a popular account @FemaleTexts), she follows four accounts connected to the high school attended by the Goodells’ twin daughters.
Various other social-media breadcrumbs track to Goodell family members and friends.
Mrs. Goodell, though quiet in recent years, has an impressive résumé. She has experience in the media world and has spent plenty of time in the spotlight.
She and Mr. Goodell married in 1997, and he became commissioner in 2006. She co-hosted a daytime show on Fox News until 2010, when she stepped down saying she wanted to spend more time with her family.
“To do justice to this new life, I’ve decided to take a break from this business,” she said during her on-air farewell.
She doesn’t have a verified Twitter account of her own and has rarely spoken publicly since leaving Fox News. In one exception, she spoke at the NFL Women’s Summit in 2016 before Super Bowl 50, moderating a panel about “Media, Entertainment and Sports as a Platform.”
That a prominent person has a secret Twitter account isn’t altogether surprising. Many high-profile figures use the social-media site covertly to monitor others—without tweeting themselves.
In the past year, enterprising sleuths have found the anonymous accounts purportedly belonging to people such as former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey and National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver. Neither of those accounts issued public tweets.
Mrs. Goodell, however, tweeted publicly and challenged big-name outlets in defense of Mr. Goodell. In that way, it falls in line with a tradition of spouses coming to the defense of their significant others.
In 2012, supermodel Gisele Bündchen stuck up for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady saying, “my husband cannot f—ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time.” More recently, country pop star Jessie James Decker wrote on Instagram that her husband, Titans receiver Eric Decker, didn’t know he was missing the national anthem when he was in the locker room with the team two weeks ago and the whole team stayed off the field.
Mr. Goodell has his own Twitter account with more than 500,000 followers under the handle @nflcommish. He last tweeted Saturday in Indianapolis, from the Colts’ unveiling of Peyton Manning’s statue outside their stadium. @forargument liked that tweet.
He follows 195 accounts. The NFL spokesman said Mr. Goodell didn’t know about @forargument.
McFadden >>>>>>> APShould've delayed that AP trade just a couple of days...
imma quote itDamn Eddie if that text was red, I woulda thought you LTB'd it's too close to the weekend for all that text
imma quote it
brb
Home Depot is out of respiratory masks and such as of yesterday. As are many hardware stores and retailers.
Air across the Bay Area is terrible with the fires up North. Anyone visiting or living currently in the region please be advised and stay indoors or find a space that isn't harmful for your health or breathing. The energy here is just all over the place. Smh. There are hundreds of people who have yet to be found, homes and lives lost, and communities still at risk as the fires continue.
I know you were joking but I thought about it and didn't want to take up all the spaceIt's not that bad. Just jokes
It is Roger Goodell’s wife, Jane Skinner Goodell, The Wall Street Journal confirmed after an examination of the account.
Eddie a full Rams fan nowi thought eddie was gone.. didnt realize dude out chere double dipping
NickFolarin need to send over the template
dusted off that Kurt Warner jersey letsgoooooEddie a full Rams fan now
That's a tough question....not sure if I would even if they became Super Bowl champions one dayEddieDoyers do you go back if Jerry dies?
this is really bad for the players.... you can be innocent but as long as youre accused of something you can be suspended. i can see alot of shady people trying to f over nfl players for money if this goes through.
this is really bad for the players.... you can be innocent but as long as youre are accused of something you can be suspended. i can see alot of shady people trying to f over nfl players for money if this goes through.
situations like this you should. every situation is different tho. cheating ,ped or tom being sneaky with the ball pumps i would agree. .I don't think you should have to be convicted in court to be suspended from the NFL... standards are totally different
With that said the problem is Goodell's lack of judgment