Ninja, the streamer and the star of Fortnite, had a slow week till he slipped into the digital dogpile, which wasn’t about his gaming skills but rather about football. The gamer tweeted a tweet that said ‘IT WAS ALL PART OF THE PLAN @JaredGoff16′, tagging the Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. The tweet was accompanied by a video that might have either been deleted or made private. However, it was speculated that the video showed Ninja making a pick for playoff prediction, in which he chose the Dallas Cowboys to defeat the Lions. Therefore, the prediction does not appear to have aged well. The Lions not only prevailed but also progressed to the NFL playoffs, and soon Ninja’s followers were all over him.
The players’ instant reaction was actually very amusing. It was nothing less than a professional online mocking. Ninja being a ‘fake fan’ was the major part of the negative reaction. One user, shmokoooo, was very candid: ‘Fake fan. How you bout to pick the cowboys smh.’ Another user, cornejo760, not only gave a Star Wars spin but also said, ‘Fake lions fan I see, horrible it is in yoda’s voice.’ The public was shouting the same thing: fans’ choosing the rival team over their own, especially in the playoffs, is a great sin.
The fun did not stop, and the jokes kept coming. Some comments could be seen as simple roasting. The user wokKkKkkky called him a ‘loser fan,’ while casper042025 used the traditional ‘You bum lol.’ Moreover, some others doubted his logic, with ieshaax3 saying, ‘Picking Cowboys to win anything is worse than the hives.’ Ouch. Even the tweet’s reply count became a joke, with TheFUmoneyclub saying, ‘Damn 12 replies in over an hour, this man really fell off hard.’ The timeline is definitely not an easy place to be.
The online chatting was similar and it took some wild detours just like internet conversations usually do. One user Reign ✞ completely changed the topic and wrote, ‘Jesus Christ loves you all.’ In the meantime, the long-running discussion about gaming platform was revived as WaspsAlmightys claimed the old-fashioned ‘Fornite is for kids,’ and JustinRSkedel asked, ‘Ninja get back on Halo.’ This is a testament that for people like Ninja every tweet is at the intersection of his gaming persona and his private interests, and the community loves to comment on both sides.
A few replies attempted to be more understanding towards Ninja and argued that he was employing a ‘reverse curse” tactic by choosing the Lions to lose so that they would win. User chillbergg even posted a GIF with the caption ‘Reverse curse technique.’ Another one, MooseZilla32, said he was with Ninja: ‘I did the same thing in my work pick em. I had to manifest the win by sacrificing my overall wins of my work.’ So it could have been a 5D chess move? The players were not entirely convinced.
This entire episode casts light on the strange but at the same time enjoyable crossover of gaming and sports culture. The gaming world once dominated by Fortnite, Ninja, the man who built it, is now facing the same fate as any other sports talk radio callers getting roasted for bad opinions. Furthermore, this experience shows how tightly woven these two fields are. Gamers are not discussing merely headshots and loot drops; they are also talking about playoff matchups and trying to identify bandwagon behavior. The jargon is identical, that is, the hype, trash talk, and a particular type of humor are all present.
And to be honest, the timing could not be more excellent. The Lions’ playoff run has indeed been the talk of the town and then comes the fact that a person like Ninja, who hails from Michigan and has been a Lions supporter before, is found on the opposite side? It is truly a potential joke that is easy to reach but still very good. The incident served to provide everyone—from die-hard football fans to occasional Fortnite viewers—with a laugh. It is a type of community engagement however in the most chaotic and organic form.
What is then the main idea to be drawn from the whole matter? Well, to be honest, not much. It is just one funny internet moment. Ninja might have had a good laugh out of it, maybe even agreed with some of the roasts. It is a reminder that even the top streamers on Twitch cannot escape being clowned by their audience. But that is what keeps the communities feeling alive and real; the ability to tease your favorite creator when they mess up. It is all good fun, at least most of it.
But also, perhaps you should always double-check your playoff picks before tweeting them, especially if you are planning on tagging the quarterback. Just a thought. The internet, where gamers on PlayStation and Xbox alike can unite in roasting a star.
