Twitter Account Announces NFL Commissioner Goodell’s Death…Prematurely

An NFL spokesmen says the league’s official Twitter account was hacked when it tweeted an erroneous statement that commissioner Roger Goodell had died. The tweet was soon deleted.

The hacked NFL’s account tweeted, “We regret to inform our fans that our commissioner, Roger Goodell, has passed away. He was 57. #RIP.”

According to Tech Insider, a hacker group named Peggle Crew claimed responsibility for the stunt.

"We got into a social media employee's email and found the account password there," one of the hackers told Tech Insider over email. "Not going to elaborate further."

When asked why the account was compromised, the hacker said it was "for the lulz."

The Twitter account of one of the group's members, @IDissEverything, has since been suspended, but the hacker told a follower that the NFL's password was "olsen3culvercam88" — a weak password that easily could be figured out with software tools like John the Ripper.

When asked about the veracity of the obituary tweet, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told USA TODAY in an email, “Not true. Hacked.”

Brian McCarthy, another NFL spokesman, tweeted from his account (@NFLprguy) that the NFL’s official Twitter account was hacked and that Goodell “is alive and well.”

A subsequent tweet from the NFL’s official account referencing Goodell – which was soon deleted -- suggested that the account was still hacked: "Oi, I said Roger Goodell has died. Don't delete that tweet."

The NFL's account also tweeted a third time ... "OK, OK, you amateur detectives win. Good job.”