【Watch The Grey Online】

When the verified Instagram account of New England Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo appeared to bid the Boston area farewell early Friday,Watch The Grey Online it was a major piece of NFL news.

Except that it apparently wasn't news at all.

In the wee hours of Friday morning, Garoppolo's Instagram account posted a photo of him celebrating with the Super Bowl trophy, alongside this caption:

“So grateful for my time in New England. Peace out Boston✌🏻"

Garoppolo has been Tom Brady's backup in New England for three seasons. He's seen as a starter-level player but the Patriots still have Brady, so many NFL fans have speculated that New England could try to trade Garoppolo for a haul of draft picks this off-season. That's why his supposed farewell tweet was such a big deal ...

... except ...

There's this, via NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

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And there's this, via Patriots beat reporter Doug Kyed.

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The post was deleted from Garoppolo's Instagram profile shortly after it appeared.

"Jimmy's social media account was hacked," agent Don Yee later told ESPN.

But all was not lost! The would-be bit of big news, the early hour at which it broke and the fact that Garoppolo was apparently hacked did lead to some solid Twitter jokes.

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So breathe deep, Patriots fans. It appears you can rest easy -- at least for now.