College sports fans were reeling today when an alarming notification appeared on their social media feeds. A prominent college football Instagram account, 247 Sports, had been hacked, leading to the spread of a false report claiming that Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers was opting out of the remainder of the season to declare for the NFL Draft.
The post was quickly deleted, but not before it had already gained rapid traction across Instagram and Twitter, sparking a wave of panic and speculation.
The post, which gained rapid traction across social media, suggested that Ewers had decided to preserve his draft stock for the upcoming NFL Draft. For nearly half an hour, social media was sent into a frenzy. Some speculated that an intern was to blame for the mishap, while others fueled rumors of a possible shake-up at quarterback — with many fans dreaming of Arch Manning stepping into the QB1 role in his second year.
It’s ironic to see how quickly the mood shifted — fans who, just earlier today, were calling for a quarterback change at Texas, suddenly went into full panic mode when confronted with the fake news of Ewers opting out. This is still Quinn’s team, he’s not going anywhere.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DBZ6HLuuu5y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Roughly thirty minutes after the post was taken down, 247 Sports staff insiders addressed the issue on the site’s forums, confirming that the account had indeed been compromised and that Ewers had not made such a decision. The false report even prompted Ewers to respond personally, posting a GIF on his Instagram story with the caption “Fake News,” accompanied by an image of former President Donald Trump.
Texas QB Quinn Ewers responds to the rumors:
“Fake News” https://t.co/9e2Ij00hPi pic.twitter.com/htjNUZAbV0
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) October 21, 2024
24/7 Sports has since removed the erroneous post and launched an internal investigation. On their forum the company acknowledged the mishap and assured everyone that they have escalated the matter to their security team.
Straight from the source. 247 reporting they were indeed hacked. Crisis in Austin averted, Quinn Ewers remains a Longhorn pic.twitter.com/p32Eg8BcVv
— Sidelines Sports Network™ (@Sidelines_SN) October 21, 2024
NFL Draft analysts do indeed have Quinn Ewers slated as a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. However, the rumors about him opting out now were completely unfounded. Texas, currently 6-1 after an upsetting home loss to Georgia, is looking to bounce back and improve their SEC record from 2-1 as they head to Vanderbilt this Saturday.