Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Emeka Egbuka has bizarrely been dragged into a social media controversy after the team confirmed an account they were following was not actually the wide receiver
05:38 ET, 13 Mar 2026
Emeka Egbuka
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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have confirmed the X account in question does not belong to Emeka Egbuka (Image: Getty)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been forced to announce that a social media account purported to be Emeka Egbuka does not actually belong to the wide receiver.
The 2026 NFL offseason is in full swing, with the free agency headlines this week having been dominated by the falling through of Maxx Crosby's trade from the Las Vegas Raiders to the Baltimore Ravens and the Atlanta Falcons decision to sign Tua Tagovailoa following his release by the Miami Dolphins.
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However, one of the bizarre headlines to make the news this week saw the Buccaneers needing to publicly denounce an X account purporting to be star receiver Egbuka.
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On Wednesday, an account, @EgbukaEmeka, posted on the social media platform: "Is CTE even real?"
The controversial post on X prompted a swift response from the Buccaneers communications team, who posted the following: "The below account is neither owned nor operated by Emeka Egbuka. It is in no way affiliated with Emeka or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers."
While the account is now suspended on X, Tampa Bay's account had tagged the bogus account nearly 60 times since drafting him out of Ohio State last year in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The fake Egbuka account prompted a swift response from the Buccaneers communications team
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The fake Egbuka account prompted a swift response from the Buccaneers communications team(Image: X)
Additionally, ProFootballTalk founder Mike Florio also pointed out that before the account was suspended, it was also followed by the official NFLPA account on X.
Before its suspension, the account had reposted only 33 posts prior to the CTE post, leading Buccaneers beat reporter Greg Auman to speculate that it could be a phony. "If you look at the account, it’s just 33 benign retweets over a few years, mostly of team accounts, before yesterday," Auman wrote on Thursday morning.
"If he’s not on the app, he doesn’t know to tell even his own team that they’re tagging an account that’s not his. Odd, but harmless."
Front Office Sports reports the Buccaneers' social media team got "duped" by the bogus account. They followed it shortly after Tampa Bay drafted Egbuka, thinking it was the 23-year-old.
Emeka Egbuka was recently impersonated on X
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Emeka Egbuka was recently impersonated on X(Image: Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
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While Egbuka, it now appears, does not have X, he does have a verified Instagram account. He has nearly 300,000 followers on the platform.
During his rookie season, Egbuka enjoyed a productive campaign with the Buccaneers. The former Buckeyes receiver caught 63 passes for 938 yards and six touchdowns, with Egbuka finishing fifth in the voting for the AP's NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
And with veteran receiver Mike Evans having now left Tampa Bay to join the 49ers in free agency, the Buccaneers will be hoping Egbuka can build upon his promising rookie season heading into their 2026 campaign.