Magic Johnson has long been one of the NBA world’s best, strangest Twitter accounts. Magic offers his musings about basketball, often with a bold social media approach which can only be described as “imagine if your grandparents tweeted and didn’t know the internet exists.”
Robert Griffin III is becoming the Magic Johnson of NFL Twitter
Nothing like a 32-year-old tweeting like your dad.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Sometimes he’s supplying basic facts about games that anyone could look up.
Magic is also here if you can’t Google the results of the Lakers game.
He’ll even keep track of what’s happening in football and offer searing hot takes like “Justin Jefferson is good.”
I think Magic’s Twitter is delightful. I’ll be honest, I love it when anyone from an older generation does their darnedest to use technology. My mom still lives in Australia, so I get a taste of this every other week when we have a Zoom call and it turns into me staring at her ceiling for a solid 5 minutes at the start of every call because she still hasn’t quite worked out where the camera is on her phone.
Normally this kind of behavior is relegated to people in their 60s, like Magic or my mom — but there’s a new kid on the block looking to put on his old man pants early and throw his hat in the ring. Robert Griffin III is assuming Magic’s mantle when it comes to NFL-centric old man takes, and he’s already master at his craft.
RGIII was all over the Patriots’ horrific play on Sunday.
He uses tweet formats which haven’t been popular for YEARS.
There are caption contests.
Sometimes he takes a little break from sports all together to drop a motivational quote you’d find on a mug inside a Hallmark store.
There are also times I’m not really sure anyone has any clue what he’s trying to say.
It’s not quite full Magic level yet, but we’re seeing a man on that trajectory. I, for one, am here for it. See, covering sports is all about accepting your age and slow march towards death. So much of your professional life is devoted to watching and covering athletes half your age dominate at the highest level. Accepting that age disparity comes with the territory, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was disheartening some of the time.
RGIII’s Twitter is a life giving wellspring. It’s hope in the darkness. Having a 32-year-old tweet like a 65-year-old makes everything feel a little bit better. So please, keep being you, RGIII — be the best version of yourself, which might be trapped inside a retiree.
