NFL commissioner’s wife secretly defended him on Twitter

Former Fox News anchor Jane Skinner Goodell has been using a secret Twitter account to defend her husband, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, from perceived attacks on the platform, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Skinner has been using a Twitter account with the handle “@forargument” and bearing the false name “Jones smith,” which has no followers and no profile picture, according to the Journal’s report.

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The account remained mostly dormant after it was created in 2014, but has sparred with sports reporters over coverage of Goodell in recent months. It was taken down after the publishing of the Journal’s report.

“Why is everyone so immature? (including you?),” Skinner tweeted at a Wall Street Journal reporter in March.

“Goodell courageous & was right in the end. Leadership is hard. Commish is doing same. Give him credit,” she tweeted in response to an NBC News tweet in August.

In a statement to the Journal, Skinner confirmed the account was hers and called her use of the Twitter handle a mistake.

“It was a REALLY silly thing to do and done out of frustration — and love,” Skinner wrote. “As a former media member, I’m always bothered when the coverage doesn’t provide a complete and accurate picture of a story. I’m also a wife and a mom. I have always passionately defended the hard-working guy I love — and I always will. I just may not use Twitter to do so in the future!”

All of the 14 tweets from Skinner Goodell since August have been in defense of her husband and have been directed at various publications, including the Journal and notable sports personalities.

The tweets gained little notoriety though. None of them got any replies, likes or retweets.

Skinner Goodell, who married Goodell in 1997, is a former anchor for “Happening Now” on the Fox News Channel. In 2010, she stepped down from her on-air segments, saying at the time that she wanted to spend more time with her family.