When last the Twitterverse heard from Commissioner Roger Goodell, the calendar read September 5, 2014. That was three days before the NFL was turned upside down by the release of the notorious Ray Rice elevator video. Goodell has now returned to Twitter, and for a very good reason.
The Commissioner has dusted off his account to announce that the NFL will stream Thursday Night Football games through Twitter.
In a more thorough announcement from the NFL, not constrained by 140 characters, the league and Twitter announced that the 10 games to be televised by CBS or NBC and NFL Network will land on Twitter. The NFL Network only games will not be streamed on Twitter.
The deal also includes pre-game Periscope broadcasts from NFL players and teams.
While it was fitting for Goodell to announce the deal via Twitter, his return after an extended hiatus (which included the entirety of #Deflategate) has provided a vehicle for responses from fans who aren’t reacting directly or indirectly to the Twitter news.