Yes, the Raiders did fire head coach Josh McDaniels just eight games into his second season with the team on Tuesday.
No, the message was not delivered to him via a fortune cookie. That rumor stemmed from a viral tweet sent out by Barstool Sports' PFT Commenter — a.k.a. Eric Sollenberger — on Wednesday.
For those who aren't aware, Sollenberger has a shtick where he pretends to have received an obviously fake story from "The Athletic Premium Plus" alleging to be about one of the biggest sports stories of the day. He doesn't break it out often, but when he does, his humorous tall tales often gain a bit of traction.
Absolutely unreal story in @TheAthletic premium plus instant-inbox about why and how McDaniels got fired pic.twitter.com/IjjwHsfDNe
— PFT Commenter (JMU 8-0) (@PFTCommenter) November 1, 2023
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That was exactly the case with Sollenberger's post on Wednesday, which alleged that McDaniels had dressed up as Raiders owner Mark Davis for Halloween. Then, after that, Davis delivered McDaniels his firing in an unconventional manner, as the fake article excerpt detailed.
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 one 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.
Of course, any amount of research would quickly debunk the "article" excerpt included within Sollenberger's post. Still, there were just enough believable nuggets within the post that it circulated around X (formerly Twitter) with ease.
After all, Davis allegedly eats at P.F. Chang's every day; and isn't it easy to imagine McDaniels as a guy who loves Halloween?
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Well, that's at least what some notable sports personalities thought. Several helped the story make the rounds on X, including Andrew Brandt.
This team is a reality version of @curb_david https://t.co/8Q0wFrh8zf
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) November 1, 2023
Meanwhile, Taylor Twellman at least asked the right question about the excerpt, though he still helped it make the rounds on the Internet.
Is this true? pic.twitter.com/0tb2wlfasa
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) November 1, 2023
But at the end of the day, there is no truth to Sollenberger's story. It was merely made for the purpose of humor, and he certainly accomplished his goal by duping some into believing it.
Let this serve as another reminder to the world that you can't believe everything you read online.
