NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's wife, Jane Skinner Goodell, had been using a fake Twitter account to defend her husband online. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
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A former Fox News host won't defend Roger Goodell on Twitter anymore. The reason is a bit strange.
October 12, 2017
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's wife has his back. Anonymously, at least.
But after the fake Twitter account she used to defend her husband online was exposed by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Jane Skinner Goodell will be taking a step away from the social media battlefield.
What did she say?
"It was a REALLY silly thing to do and done out of frustration — and love. As a former media member, I'm always bothered when coverage doesn't provide a complete and accurate picture of a story. I'm also a wife and a mom. I have always passionately defended the hard-working guy I love — and I always will. I just may not use Twitter to do so in the future!" Goodell wrote in a statement Thursday afternoon, after the account was discovered.
Jane Goodell was a former Fox News daytime show host until she stepped down in 2010 to spend more time with family.
Jane Goodell's secret online life
An obscure Twitter account under the name Jones Smith, @forargument, has been taking on media outlets over the past few months, exclusively in defense of Roger Goodell. The account was run by Jane Skinner Goodell.
Some of the things she tweeted:
"Please do better reporting. He is already doing this. You are behind," the account tweeted to NBC's @ProFootballTalk about solving the NFL's national anthem issues."Reads like a press release from players' union. You can do better reporting (D Smith sounds like D Trump with the inaccurate firebombs," in response to an ESPN article about the NFL's response to President Donald Trump's criticism.
"The premise of your article is silly. What board of directors in this country would all agree on this issue?" to the Wall Street Journal, referring to an article about disagreement among NFL owners regarding national anthem protests.
How she was discovered?
Probably because she didn't expect anyone to pay attention, it doesn't look like she took great pains to throw people off the scent.
The Wall Street Journal put the pieces together because out of the 46 accounts @forargument followed, the only non-celebrity and non-media ones were related to her children's high school, family and friends.
Maybe she just wanted to vent. The account had a very small following, and none of the tweets ever got a like, retweet or reply.
Shortly after the Wall Street Journal contacted her about the Twitter account, Goodell deleted it.
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Aaron Colen
Aaron is a former staff writer for TheBlaze. He resides in Denton, Texas, and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a Master of Education in adult and higher education.
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