Watch The Moment ESPN Got Duped On Live TV By A Fake Twitter ‘Report’

The NFL’s free agency officially opened on Wednesday following a few days of “legal tampering” and, as always, it meant a rush of players immediately agreed to new contracts with teams around the league. Much like trade deadlines, this is an exciting time for reporters hoping to get a big scoop, but it’s also a great opportunity for users on social media to trick people into believing fake news.

Not only did ESPN’s NFL Live fall for one of these fake reports, they reported and analyzed it live on air. Whoops!

It all began when a noted Twitter trickster and SB Nation blogger Chaps McNealy (@UncleChaps) sent out this tweet, “reporting” that defensive end Olivier Vernon had signed a big-money deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

At the time the tweet was sent, Chaps used the avatar and display name of Fox Sports reporter Jay Glazer, which helped trick those who didn’t bother to look at his Twitter handle. Many people, including those at ESPN, fell for it and credited Glazer for the scoop. As you can imagine, the real Glazer was quite surprised and amused by all of it.

This certainly isn’t the first time that an account has successfully tricked legitimate reporters or publications, but usually all it leads to are some ill-advised retweets or something that can be corrected and/or deleted swiftly. It’s not too often you get to see The Worldwide Leader in sports coverage not only announce fake news on television, then proceed to “confirm” it with one of their most respected reporters.

As for Chaps, he seems to be enjoying himself in the wake of the mess he created.

(Via Deadspin)