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Podcast star Eric Sollenberger keeps sharing fake stories on X (formerly Twitter) and members of the media keep believing that they are real, actual stories… like they did again on Wednesday.
Sollenberger, AKA PFT Commenter, is one of the hosts of the popular sports podcast Pardon My Take.
Every now and then he writes a fake story of a current sports event and shares it to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Each time he does it, he writes in the post that the “scoop” is from his “premium plus” subscription to The Athletic. (There is no such thing as a “premium plus” subscription to The Athletic.)
On Wednesday, with the not-so-surprising overnight firing of Josh McDaniels as the head coach by the Las Vegas Raiders, Sollenberger decided to break out the fake sports story bit one more time.
“Absolutely unreal story in @TheAthletic premium plus instant-inbox about why and how McDaniels got fired,” he wrote on X.
Alongside that comment, he shared what looks like a screenshot of a story from The Athletic.
It reads, “Apparently the last straw was when McDaniels- who is well-known around league circles as a guy who goes ‘all-out’ for Halloween- came to the Raiders facility dressed as Mark Davis the day after losing to the Lions on Monday Night Football.
“Davis seemed to take it in stride- at first. He appeared to laugh, and even ordered his now-trademark P.F. Changs lunch delivered to Coach McDaniels to ‘complete the look.’ After the two had eaten, Davis suggested McDaniels read his fortune cookie, which read ‘you’re fired, hotshot,’ according to multiple sources who viewed the dessert.”
The statements are so comical they seem hard to believe, even for the Raiders, yet still several media members re-posted it with some very serious commentary.
“OMG. The pettiness… But, yet… It’s beautiful,” commented sports talk radio host Troy Coverdale. “The guy has now lost 2 HC jobs in under 2 years at each.”
“This team is a reality version of @curb_david,” Sports Illustrated’s Andrew Brandt wrote.
“I didn’t [think] this had to be said but a lot of people are running with this story. It’s a joke— a funny one— but not true,” Ted Nguyen of The Athletic responded. “We all know Mark does not order PF Chang takeout. He enjoys his meal with the decor.”
Even Ballsack Sports was impressed by the chicanery.
Oh wow
— Ballsack Sports (@BallsackSports) November 1, 2023