Nelson Agholor Denies Having a Burner Account, Staying Off Social Media

There was speculation that struggling Eagles receiver had taken a shot at QB Carson Wentz on Twitter, but he denied it

USA Today

An anonymous tweet defending Eagles receivers by indicating that quarterback Carson Wentz didn’t throw good passes swept like a wildfire through Philadelphia and its suburbs on Thursday.

There was rampant speculation that the tweet came from a burner account set up by Nelson Agholor, the Eagles’ struggling receiver who has come under intense and harsh scrutiny on social media for dropping pivotal passes most of the season, including what appeared to be a touchdown with about a minute to play on fourth down in a 17-10 loss to the Patriots on Sunday.

The reason some tried to link the Twitter account to Agholor was because the handle began with the letters “Efam.” Agholor’s middle name is Efamehul.

Agholor threw water on the wildfire after Thursday’s practice when he made it clear the account did not belong to him.

The account was deactivated later in the day.

Agholor said he heard about the speculation from a friend in Tampa when the two communicated via Facetime during a break in the team’s daily practice routine.

“He was like, ‘This is crazy, somebody talked about you having a burner account, which is nuts,’” said Agholor. “I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I talked to our PR people and they told me.”

Agholor asked reporters to put it on Twitter that the account was not his, asking them to tweet, “all right stop playing with Nelson, this wasn’t him.”

Agholor said he is off social media all together, deactivating his Instagram account earlier in the week.

“Social media is a place where you can influence for the positive but once the energy isn’t helpful, there’s no need for it,” said Agholor. “I have to focus on the Eagles, the guys in this locker room, and our loyal fans who need us to play well, and I have to have positive energy. It’s part of eliminating distractions.

“I hadn’t been on there, wasn’t really active on there. It was my family that was telling me about it. So I was like this makes no sense. They don’t need to be worried about that, so it was unneeded.”

The only way for Agholor to quiet the social media storm is to start making catches in big moments.

Even that may not be enough to sway the Eagles to bring him back on a new contract. Agholor is set to be a free agent at the end of a season in which he is being paid $9.4 million. He has 36 catches for 322 yards and three touchdowns.

“At end of day, just move on and you practice, you practice every day and you practice with confidence,” said Agholor, “and you prepare for whatever comes your way.”