THE INTERNET — It’s the day most feared on the internet, but only for those who don’t like to be embarrassed or can’t take a joke.

The World Wide Web was awash with rumors and “fake news” Monday, April 1 — and several athletes with ties to the state of Utah got involved.

Here are some of our favorite April Fools’ Day pranks from the world of sports. Leave your favorite in the comments below, or tweet them to us @kslcomsports. We'll update this story with some of our favorite submissions throughout the day.

Tony gets a shoe

The biggest moment of local golf star Tony Finau’s life quickly turned painful. And Nike, which sponsors the Rose Park native who lives in Lehi, has added another layer.

The shoe company and Swoosh mavens unveiled the "Finau 1s," a shoe designed to protect the every golfer’s ankle when they need it most — running down the fairway after sinking a hole-in-one during the Par 3 contest at The Masters.

The product quality of this ad is exquisite, and Finau narrating his "traumatic story" is why we love April Fools' Day.

The Swoosh admitted the stunt is a joke on their website. But they did make one promise.

"The Snake Pack, however, is very real and will be worn by Tony during his first major tournament of the year. Honest. Cross our hearts," the shoemakers confirmed.

Donovan Mitchell joins the Utah National Guard

Early Monday morning, the Utah Army National Guard tweeted quite the announcement: Donovan Mitchell, the star guard for the Utah Jazz, had decided to enlist.

"The former Louisville player will be enlisting as a cannon crewmember (MOS 13B) for his love of teamwork and shooting," the Guard tweeted.

But don't worry Jazz fans. The obvious April Fools joke will have no impact on Mitchell's availability for Monday's game or Utah's upcoming playoff run.

Tom Brady joins Twitter, retires from Twitter

It’s happened, everyone.

The Greatest Quarterback of Our Generation has finally joined Twitter.

And Tom Brady’s first (and for a while only) tweet sent the internet into a frenzy.

Brady logged on for the first time Monday, and immediately broke news of his “impending retirement” from the league.

"I'm retiring," he tweeted. "In my spare time, I'll be tweeting."

There were a lot of moans, laughs, and hot-take commentaries after that tweet. We’ll let you search for your favorite ones on Twitter.

Because Brady may have realized what he did an hour later.

Haloti Rugby

The Utah Warriors also made news Monday morning — and it wasn’t for their 1-5-1 overall record in the second season of Major League Rugby.

The Warriors "signed" former Highland High star and recent NFL retiree Haloti Ngata to a contract, pulling out all the stops in a press release announcing him as their next No. 8.

The news was quickly … ummm, reported … by several Eagles media outlets, beat writers, and a host of international publications making inquiries with the Warriors, a team spokesman told KSL.com.

Utah signed the defensive line standout to a "associate player contract," and "promised" that he would be in the starting lineup for Friday’s home game against the Seattle Seawolves.

They even photoshopped a picture of Ngata on Ensign Peak, wearing a Warriors kit and holding a banner that says, "I’m going back to rugby" — an obvious play on Ngata’s retirement from the NFL, when he announced it via an Instagram post taken on Mount Kilimanjaro back in March.

Ngata was also in on the charade.

The best quote comes from Warriors forwards coach Stevie Scott.

"Being from Scotland, I don’t know a thing about American Football or the NFL," he said. "But if he is ready to play rugby again, and can help us scrum our way to victory, and does what I say then I am happy to have him on our pitch.

"I understand he’s about 18 stones; that should be plenty to scare the other teams — not to mention his athletic prowess."

Not everything in the release was fake. The Warriors really are offering 2-for-1 tickets to Friday’s home match to anyone who calls the front office at 801-935-4045. The team will also make a donation to the Haloti Ngata Family Foundation in relation to the "news" that broke on April 1.

Aaron Lowe, we hardly knew thee

Three-star defensive back Aaron Lowe signed with the University of Utah during the early signing period December. Early Monday morning, though, he sent out a tweet claiming his days as a Ute were over.

Lowe's tweet was early enough in the day that it definitely fooled some Utah fans, so there was some relief when Lowe revealed it was indeed a prank.

Less than an hour after he claimed he was leaving Utah, he tweeted out a picture of him with Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley and said, "Would never even think about leaving Utah. Loyalty runs deep."

Not a joke

And in the "not a prank" department, former Las Vegas slugging phenom Bryce Harper announced Monday that he and his wife Kayla are expecting their first child, a boy.

The Phillies quickly responded to the Latter-day Saint slugger’s post with a simple, "Congratulations to @bryceharper3 and Kayla!" on Twitter.

Harper signed a 13-year, $330-million contract with the Phillies in the offseason, and debuted in Philadelphia last week with two home runs to pace the club’s 3-0 start to the season.

Related topics