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By Michael Gallagher
Sports Content Coordinator
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers unexpectedly found themselves at the center of controversy this week for an unexpected reason.
On Wednesday, an X account with the handle @egbukaemeka tweeted “is CTE even real?” The problem is that account, which many believed belonged to Bucs star rookie Emeka Egbuka was a fake account. In fact, hundreds of fans hit the comment section to criticize Egbuka for the tone-deaf post, prompting the Bucs to announce the account was in no way associated with Egbuka himself.
“The below account is neither owned nor operated by Emeka Egbuka. It is in no way affiliated with Emeka or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” the Buccaneers Communications X account responded.
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The fake Egbuka account has since been suspended, but it was revealed that the Bucs believed it was actually Egbuka’s account. And they weren’t the only ones.
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The account, which had nearly 8,000 followers, was followed by the official Bucs account, the NFL Players Association, NFL Films, and multiple NFL media members.
With so much tension surrounding the situation, Egbuka took to social media, using his official Instagram page, which has nearly 300,000 followers, to address the controversy.
“For anyone wondering, I haven't had twitter since high school. That account on X isn't me 😂,” Egbuka posted on his Instagram story.
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Front Office Sports recently revealed that the Bucs had tagged the fake account nearly 60 times after drafting him last April, and the team admitted it simply was fooled.
“A source told FOS that the Bucs’ social media team got ‘duped’ by the imposter Egbuka account, following it shortly after drafting him and tagging him thereafter. A spokesperson for the Bucs declined to comment,” FOS reported.
Egbuka had a breakout year for the Bucs as a rookie, totaling 63 catches, 938 yards, and six touchdowns. He led the team in all three categories.
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