Here’s how the Patriots’ season has played out on Twitter
After Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski was the second-most-tweeted-about player on the Patriots, and Julian Edelman was third.
Tom Brady prefers to share his personal thoughts on Instagram, but he was still the most-tweeted about player in the NFL during the 2018-19 season with nearly 3 million mentions.
The NFL released its Twitter data from the season before Super Bowl LIII, and, as usual, the Patriots generated significant buzz.
New England was the fifth-most mentioned team, behind the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, and Philadelphia Eagles. The Los Angeles Rams checked in at No. 15.
Unsurprisingly, the Patriots’ most-tweeted about moment of the year was their most recent one on the field – when Rex Burkhead scored from 2 yards out in overtime to send them past the Kansas City Chiefs and into the Super Bowl.
Burkhead’s 4-yard score with 39 seconds in regulation of the AFC Championship game was second, and Brady’s fourth-quarter interception was third on the list.
For the Rams, Greg Zuerlein’s game-winning 57-yard kick in overtime to send them to the Super Bowl occupied the top spot. Their win over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Divisional round was No. 2, and their epic 54-51 regular-season triumph over the Chiefs came in third.
The Patriots’ most-tweeted about games were the AFC Championship classic against the Chiefs, the AFC Divisional tilt with the Los Angeles Chargers, and the Week 15 clash with the Steelers. On the Rams side, their matchups with the New Orleans Saints, Cowboys, and Chiefs were first, second, and third.
After Brady, Rob Gronkowski was the second-most-tweeted-about player on the Patriots, and Julian Edelman was third. Todd Gurley, Jared Goff, and Aaron Donald were first, second, and third for Los Angeles.
The Patriots’ team Twitter account only grew 4 percent from Sept. 6, 2018 to Jan. 23, 2019, whereas the Rams account had a 13-percent spike in followers. Granted, the Patriots had much more to begin with, and the teams now sit at 4,375,070 and 818,320, respectively.
Twitter also plucked the three most viral tweets from each team handle. The most popular Patriots tweet came after the AFC Championship game, when Brady and Chris Hogan soaked in the moment.
“I’m too old…you’re too slow…we got nothin'”
“Unreal, bro.” pic.twitter.com/7b2V9q6K6M
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 21, 2019
They reminisced about how fans and experts called them too old and too slow, then called the moment “unreal.” The tweet has 198 million views as of Thursday, and it also has over 16,000 retweets and 60,000 likes.
The second moment occurred when the Patriots apologized for “reigning” on Rob Parker’s celebration after Parker declared the Patriots’ “reign of terror” would finally be over. Finally, the third moment was a video of Brady, Sunday night, with the caption: “There he goats again.”
The Rams’ most popular tweets all centered around a common theme: They announced they’ll be wearing throwback jerseys in the Super Bowl, they shared that they’re going to the Super Bowl, and they proclaimed that they were officially NFC champs.
When it came to the tweets of individual players, Edelman claimed spots one through three for the Patriots with two hype videos and a message that his cleats would say “#strongerthanhate” to honor those who lost their lives in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in October.
January football. #LFG pic.twitter.com/7X8GMIxjnZ
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) January 13, 2019
Two of the Rams’ tweets came from Gurley, and one came from Goff.
