AP

Just in time for the slow time, folks who cover football have a new white whale: Outing NFL figures who have social media burner accounts.

That’s the obvious football-related takeaway from the bizarre story from Philadelphia regarding 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo’s use of five — FIVE! — phony Twitter accounts for the purpose of saying things about players, coaches, etc. that he could never say in his own name.

Colangelo, despite the very real possibility that he’d eventually be caught (which was borne out by the fact that he was), now faces the very real possibility that he’ll be fired. Which makes fascinating the very real possibility that folks covering the NFL will begin swarming social media and working sources for any evidence that prominent NFL figures (or, gulp, media members) have been doing the same.

Last year, an account of a quasi-burner account emerged in the NFL, via the story that the wife of Commissioner Roger Goodell had been maintaining a Twitter account aimed at defending him and/or attacking his critics. Mrs. Goodell’s account was detected via sleuthing; Colangelo’s came from a tip. (Which raises two obvious questions: Why would Colangelo tell anyone else that he had burner accouts, and how many people did he tell?)

Whether due to elbow grease or loose lips, the incentive now exists to figure out who in the NFL has burner accounts, and to expose them.

And I can say that because I don’t have, never have had, and never will have a burner account. Oh, I’ve considered it. But thanks to 12 years of Catholic education, I’m conditioned to believe that I’ll always get caught — and that I’ll eventually burn in a lake of fire for all eternity because of it.