Over the last decade, social media has become an important tool in how sports teams and players communicate with their fans. It provides fans with a glimpse into sports star’s lives as well as giving them a behind the scenes look at the day to day life of an athlete in training or on match days.
As such, social media has birthed many viral moments around the NFL. Whether it’s player signings, celebrating victories or marketing campaigns, the hype around the socials of NFL teams and players is huge. As the social media accounts of every team, player and the league itself continues to grow we are seeing more engagements and impressions in the millions. Let’s take a look at some of the most viral posts in the NFL.
Tom Brady announces his retirement
Every dog has his day. Tom Brady had 8,337 of them. The GOAT himself had the most decorated career of any other NFL player in history, winning a record seven Super Bowl rings in his 23 seasons. At 43 however, it was becoming clear that he was winding down his career and on February 1 2023 he publicly announced his retirement to his 14m Instagram followers. “Good morning guys, I will get to the point right away. I am retiring. For good,” said Brady in a front facing video.
“I know the process was a pretty big deal last time so when I woke up this morning I figured I would just press record and let you guys know first.” He added before thanking his family, friends and teammates. The GOAT retiring was always going to be a viral moment and 3.3 million likes later it is one of the biggest in NFL history.
Packers trade Aaron Rodgers to the Jets
In what has been the biggest on-field story of the year so far, one of the biggest trades in recent history came back in April when the Packers traded iconic QB Aaron Rodgers to the jets. Rodgers had been a cheesehead for 17 years, winning the Super Bowl with them in 2011 and earning the MVP award on four occasions. The emotional goodbye drew the eye of NFL fans everywhere and when the official NFL twitter account announced the trade it blew up. It drew 4.4 million views and over 50,000 likes. A move as big as this was always going to attract so many impressions, though Rodgers’ season ending injury in week one put a damp squib on this mega story.
Chiefs Super Bowl rings reveal
The Chiefs are an absolute powerhouse on Tik Tok with 3.2 million followers, more than any other NFL team. They have an entire team dedicated to their efforts on the video hosting social media app. Their most viewed and liked upload landed in June of this year when the roster revealed the rings they earned from their Super Bowl LVII win. It raked in 11.2 million views and 935.3k likes.
Stars like Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes are absolute engagement monsters and assets to their media marketing squad. They are continuing to grow and not just on Tik Tok, their other socials are among the most popular of all NFL teams. With Super Bowl odds favoring them to win yet again in 2024, we could be in for yet another viral year for the Chiefs.
Eagles win the Super Bowl
The Philadelphia Eagles had a long wait for a Super Bowl win having gone 84 years without a single ring to their name in franchise history. In 2018 they finally got the job done and it would go down as one of the most legendary wins in Super Bowl history. This was mainly down to one of the gutsiest play calls in Super Bowl history. On the play, quarterback Nick Foles moved up to behind his offensive line and Jason Kelce snapped the ball directly to running back Corey Clement. Clement went on to pitch the ball to Trey Burton, who passed the ball to a wide open Foles to score a touchdown. In so doing, Foles became the first player in Super Bowl history to both throw and catch a touchdown pass during a Super Bowl game. The Eagles would go on to beat the dynasty that was Bill Belichick and Tom Brady’s New England Patriots. The Eagles’ “WE DID IT, PHILLY” tweet immediately after the win has gone on to generate over 135,000 engagements, unsurprisingly becoming their most popular tweet.
