Philly’s 10 Best Pro Athletes on Twitter

Jocks who make it a point to bring their best game on Twitter.
By ·

References to the Almighty God. Mentions of Jesus Christ. Bible verse citations. Heads up about heading into practice. Vague references to “grinding” and/or “putting in work.” Thanking Uber for the ride. The Twitter lives of many Philadelphia professional athletes can be pretty banal.

But that doesn’t mean all of them are social media dullards. Here, in no particular order, are the 10 Philly jocks who make it a point to bring their best game on Twitter — follow-worthy, all of them.

JAKE DIEKMAN, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Though he typically doesn’t show up till late in games, the Phils’ lefty reliever is leading off our list thanks to his candor surrounding topics like candle-shopping. (They smell so good, right?) He’s also very up-front about his battles with ulcerative colitis, balancing serious stuff like that with amateur attempts at yoga. Stick to the fastballs, Jake, and we’ll love ya for it.

JAKUB VORACEK, PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

The appeal of Voráček’s Twitter account, aside from its extreme susceptibility to Giroux tampering, is that it’s providing us with a rare look at a beautiful thing: A foreigner who’s just beginning to understand the absurdity of American humor. There’s a wonderful childlike glee in the Czech winger’s reactions to Wayne Simmonds telling him he looks like he uses a pork chop as a comb.

RONALD ROBERTS, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

While many athletes choose to address a diversity of interests via Twitter, St. Joe’s product Roberts is a one-topic man — he mainly uses the thing to proclaim his undying love for Canadian rapper/Toronto Raptors “ambassador”  Drake. Makes sense: In addition to being the greatest (smh how!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), Drake is the truth, and worthy of our thanks, and basically our entire lives. If he makes the cut this season, I would like to see Roberts apply the same amount of passion he reserves for Drake praise to offensive rebounding.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

His teammate may like Drizzy, but two-guard Williams has a focus all his own: Chain dining! When he is not conversing with the official Chili’s account about signature chicken crispers, the Memphis native is pining after Benihana.

EVAN MATHIS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Thanks to his masterful and elaborate prank prowess, Mathis (who’s on his way back!) is pretty much the Osiris of this Philly-athlete-on-Twitter shit. But he also offers day-to-day follow value, whether he’s photo-bombing the D-Line, making fun of Jason Peters for constantly forgetting his Instagram password or simply ripping on Nancy Grace.

https://twitter.com/amobisays/status/519542666665938944

AMOBI OKUGO, PHILADELPHIA UNION

Twitter is a hotbed of negativity, but the Union’s young defenseman goes out of his way to counter with appreciative mentions of stuff like Boardwalk Empire’s historical veracity and Michael Jordan’s hall-of-fame induction (*clapping Emoji*). But he’s also known to keep it *100 Emoji*, musing about women using the Facetune app and Chipotle skimping on his burrito fillers.

ZAC RINALDO, PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Flyers winger Rinaldo doesn’t compose a ton of original tweets — rather, it’s one of those accounts that offers value via its retweeting taste. The Flyers winger is particularly fond of sharing Vines that feature viral videos spliced together with WWE wrestlers and dubious-sounding facts about digestive alchemy.


JOEL EMBIID, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

Though he probably won’t play this season due to injury, the Sixers’ top draft pick has already made a delightful splash with his immense Twitter game, hollering at Kim Kardashian and Rihanna, dreaming about the Shmoney Dance and touching on the quality of his #favoritedrink, the Shirley Temple, among a million other things. His account will probably be quiet for a while due to a tragic recent death in the family, but we are confident Joel-Hans will be back and better than ever very soon.

JONATHAN PETTIBONE, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

When he isn’t surf-philosophizing like Bodhi in Point Break, Phils starter Pettibone is cracking jokes about fruit salad, falling in love with reading and dressing his dog in bedazzled denim vests.

https://twitter.com/BatMandervelde/status/522206439532933120

JULIAN VANDERVELDE, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Any dude who uses Rufio from Hook to convey his excitement for the sport and team he loves deserves to be on this list.

Honorable mentions: The Phillies’ Cameron Rupp warning against the dangers of mom workouts…Sixers forward Arnett Moultrie upset about you not picking up…Phillies reliever Justin de Fratus engaging in Talmudic-style ecclesiastical debate via Instagram.

Follow @DrewLazor on Twitter.

Read More About:

Trending

  1. Pennsylvania Deserves a National Park

  2. How’s Mayor Cherelle Parker Doing After a Year in Office?

  3. The Roosevelt Boulevard Subway Will Be Worth Every Penny

  4. Philly Mag’s Resident Drone Expert Explains What’s Going On in New Jersey

  5. John Bolaris Had a Rough Sunday Night In Philadelphia