Back in August 2017, NFL writer and podcaster Denny Carter had quite the observation about the way NFL players at different positions tend to tweet. Carter started that with thoughts on NFL wide receivers tweeting cryptically, and then spelled out a typical tweet for each position. That included “WR tweet: the enemy speaks kindly & holds a knife”:
Typical QB tweet: love my teammates god is good!
RB tweet: keep grindin
TE tweet: derp
WR tweet: the enemy speaks kindly & holds a knife
— Denny Carter (@CDCarter13) August 10, 2017
That tweet’s been a good subject of mirth for much of the football world for the last five and a half years. And now, NFL players are starting to fulfill it. On Sunday night, Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver A.J. Brown (seen above speaking to media at Super Bowl Opening Night on Feb. 6) not only literally tweeted “the enemy speaks kindly & holds a knife,” he pinned it to his profile:
“the enemy speaks kindly & holds a knife”
— AJ BROWN (@1kalwaysopen_) February 27, 2023
This led to a lot of discussion of Carter’s original tweet, including jokes that his account was just a burner for Brown:
the prophecy is fulfilled cc @CDCarter13 https://t.co/Sx7RuV3Kk7 pic.twitter.com/Gdg5qM7wUZ
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) February 27, 2023
Obviously @CDCarter13 has to retire now. Nowhere to go but down. pic.twitter.com/5C9fRqAMts
— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) February 27, 2023
Denny was never real — just an AJB burner this whole time.
— Hatin’ Ass Brian (@HatinAssBrian) February 27, 2023
I'm expecting @CDCarter13 to log in just to pull off his AJ Brown mask Scoobie Doo villain style any second now. . . https://t.co/FiiUcApAMq
— Former Big Fat Idiot By The Name Of (@FletcherJohnson) February 27, 2023
i can’t believe @CDCarter13 logged off and missed this moment. tough scene for the least coast. brand in shambles. https://t.co/MbLv31EXY7
— Ben Gretch (@YardsPerGretch) February 27, 2023
https://twitter.com/AnalyticsPlant/status/1630205212383387650
Meanwhile, Carter himself had one simple reaction:
tell aj brown to unblock me
— Denny Carter (@CDCarter13) February 27, 2023
It’s not particularly clear what caused Brown to tweet “the enemy speaks kindly & holds a knife.” He signed a four-year, $100 million contract extension that runs through the 2026 season last spring, so it doesn’t appear to be about a contract issue. It’s quite possible he just stumbled across Carter’s old tweet some way and decided it would be funny to recreate it. At any rate, this is a better way for Brown to use Twitter than his tweeted-and-deleted rant Friday night claiming humanity hasn’t actually gone to the moon:
AJ Brown vs The Moon is football’s most underrated rivalry pic.twitter.com/T1C5YH14HN
— Philly’s Phinest Beercan (@BeercanBrain) February 25, 2023
Brown said last September he took the Twitter app off his phone because he was tired of receiving praise for how he played. It’s unclear if he’s added it back or is just tweeting from other devices. (He did cause a Twitter stir in November with his comments on the Tennessee Titans, his former team.) But it certainly was something to see him execute the “typical WR tweet.”
[Denny Carter and A.J. Brown on Twitter; photo from Joe Rondone/The Arizona Republic, via USA Today Sports]