Buccaneers say Emeka Egbuka ‘Is CTE even real?’ post came from unaffiliated X account

On Wednesday, an X account seemingly belonging to Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka posted the question, “Is CTE even real?”

Naturally, that went viral as X users slammed Egbuka for suggesting that Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head impacts that has been linked to the deterioration of many NFL players, leading to dementia, aggression, and even suicide, might not be a real thing.

Then things got really weird.

Exactly one hour after the post from Egbuka’s account went up, the Buccaneers Communications account quoted it and wrote, “The below account is neither owned nor operated by Emeka Egbuka. It is in no way affiliated with Emeka or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”

The below account is neither owned nor operated by Emeka Egbuka. It is in no way affiliated with Emeka or the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. https://t.co/d3uZHhH5Nc

— Buccaneers Communications (@BuccaneersComms) March 11, 2026

Under owner Elon Musk, X has become a free-for-all of misinformation and fake identities, so it’s not unreasonable to think this could be someone pretending to be the NFL wide receiver. The Egbuka account has a blue checkmark, but under Musk, those have been rendered useless as a way to verify if the account truly belongs to the person whose name is on it.

However, what makes it odd is that the account normally operates as if it were the NFL player’s actual X account. It also has more than 7,500 followers and, as Pro Football Talk noted, it is followed by the gold-checked account of the NFL Players Association. It’s also followed by the NFL Films account and several NFL media members.

The account has posted very sparsely over the years, and it’s almost entirely reposts. There have been only three posts in 2026, all from March 9 or later, which could mean someone gained control of the account in recent days.

Perhaps we’ll get further clarity from him or the Bucs soon.