Eagles' smackdown of Colin Cowherd tops Twitter list of viral NFL tweets
Early this season, FS1 host Colin Cowherd called Philadelphia “the dumbest sports city in America” and labeled Eagles fans “dopey” in a rant that has come to define the non-stop trolling the Birds received on FS1 throughout the season by hosts Nick Wright, Skip Bayless and Jason Whitlock (though all three, to varying degrees, have come around on the Eagles).
After hearing Cowherd’s comments, the Eagles’ official social media team blasted the FS1 host’s stereotypes with what remains a perfect tweet:
☑️ Incorrect American history
☑️ Illiteracy joke
☑️ Vet jail
⬜️ Snowballs/Santa Claus
⬜️ RockyOooh so close to lazy stereotype Yahtzee. https://t.co/Unuh7yCZtK
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 3, 2017
According to Twitter data, the team’s smack down of Cowherd was the most viral tweet sent from the its official account, @Eagles, all season. To date, it’s been retweeted nearly 10,000 times and liked by more than 21,000 people. During the season, the number of people following @Eagles grew 30 percent, from 2,234,496 followers on the opening day of the NFL season to 2,903,820 followers after Sunday’s 38-7 win over the Vikings in the NFC championship game.
Despite a season-ending ACL injury, Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz was the second-most-talked-about NFL player on Twitter last season, receiving more than 2 million mentions, according to the social platform. Unsurprisingly, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady topped the list with more than 3 million mentions.
Overall, the Eagles were the third-most-mentioned NFL team on Twitter, outpacing the Patriots but falling short of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys. (The Patriots were fourth.) And the #FlyEaglesFly hashtag was the second-most popular of the year, only trailing #NFL for the top spot. Other than Wentz, the two other top-tweeted players on the team were quarterback Nick Foles and running back Jay Ajayi (mostly due to the in-season trade that sent him to the Eagles from the Dolphins).
After the team’s annihilation of Cowherd, here are the next four most-viral tweets that came from the Eagles’ official Twitter account.
"It’s one of those things where every week we just come in ready to work."
Carson Wentz weighs in on yesterday's win: https://t.co/KDCGUuG6zF pic.twitter.com/H16glwrTmv
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 27, 2017
61 yards. An #Eagles franchise record. What a moment for Jake Elliott! #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/F4qp10FMs1
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 24, 2017
MOOD#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/hfFpB4M7Wv
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 22, 2018
We had @cj_wentz mic'd up for #NYGvsPHI and, well, just listen for yourself. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/jEyB1msn1o
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) September 26, 2017
In addition to being the second-most-popular NFL player on Twitter, Wentz dominated a list of the most-viral tweets sent by Eagles players. Here are his top three:
How bout that Eagles Nation?! Super Bowl here we come!!!! #FlyEaglesFly
— Carson Wentz (@cj_wentz) January 22, 2018
5-1 😎
I love this team. Let's keep this thing rollin' #FlyEaglesFly
— Carson Wentz (@cj_wentz) October 13, 2017
Brotherhood 🦅 pic.twitter.com/j0N3qJLevd
— Carson Wentz (@cj_wentz) January 21, 2018
Not making the list were two tweets that garnered strong reactions from his Twitter followers: An Oct. 2 post following the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas and a Jan. 1 tweet that featured a photo of his golden retriever Mama Henley standing behind a row of dead geese.
So much hate and evil. So sad. The World needs Jesus in a bad way.
Praying for all those affected in Vegas.
— Carson Wentz (@cj_wentz) October 2, 2017
Happy 5th Birthday to Mama Henley! We’ve been through a lot in 5 years. Best dog and hunting buddy I could ask for! pic.twitter.com/HW8DbxTyML
— Carson Wentz (@cj_wentz) January 1, 2018
The most-popular tweet sent by a Patriots player came from tight end Rob Gronkowski, which was perfectly Gronk-like.
Been following up on Hurricane Irma a lot the past few days. Did some research on hurricanes and been learning a lot bout Mother Nature.
— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) September 9, 2017
The responses to Gronk’s tweet, while not topping any traffic lists, were on-point.
— Kevin Schiffman (@BostonSwifty) September 9, 2017
How Gronk feels after doing a little research pic.twitter.com/m0ztZh6vKM
— Pat F (@pfal516) September 9, 2017
Meteorologist Gronk pic.twitter.com/g1xRLIHzCo
— David Utterback (@Utter1824) September 9, 2017
"You caught me. I like to break a mental sweat too." pic.twitter.com/DXZ1nYXLyZ
— Not Jake (@MyNamesJacobus) September 10, 2017
— Your Mom (@k8salmon) September 10, 2017
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