A Twitter account that posed as belonging to former NFL running back Jerome Harrison over the weekend has proven to be a fake.
Harrison, in a brief conversation with ESPN on Thursday afternoon, confirmed the account @jharrison_35, which had posted messages about Harrison’s recovery from a brain tumor discovered during the 2011 NFL season, was not his.
Harrison, 35, is not believed to be on social media.
Harrison, from Kalamazoo, Michigan, was an All-American at Washington State and was a fifth-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2006. Harrison was traded to Philadelphia in 2010 and was signed by the Detroit Lions in 2011.
Detroit then traded Harrison to Philadelphia, and the tumor was discovered during his physical with the Eagles. After a surgery, a blood clot in his brain left him as a quadriplegic who couldn’t eat or talk. He has been recovering since, including learning to walk, talk and eat again, according to a CBS story in 2012.
I’m not going 1-15, Jackson said January of 2017 (per ESPN). No. I’ll be swimming in that lake over there somewhere. That’s not happening.
Well, the Browns had an even worse 2017 season, finishing 0-16, and Jackson held up his end of the deal he made 18 months ago.
He led a group of about 150 employees, including Browns owner Dee Haslam, into Lake Erie Friday and called the plunge a cleanse. Jackson shouted, No more freakin’ losing! as he jumped into the 72 degree water.
Jumping into the lake wasn’t just about staying true to his word, though. It was also a charitable event to support the Hue Jackson Foundation, which fights human trafficking.
Jackson pledged to donate $100 for every Browns employee who joined him on the jump and owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam agreed to match the donation, bringing the total to $30,000 raised.
Those people have been with me every day, Jackson said, per Ohio.com. When you lose a game and you lose as many games as we have and you keep parking your car and walking into the building and have to see those faces each and every day, I carry them with me.