The curious case of the Carolina Panthers' missing cheeky tweet

The NFL announced recently that it would fine teams for posting "unapproved video" on social media during games. The rule is set to go into effect on Wednesday, but the Carolina Panthers' social media team appeared to test the waters during Monday night's game against Tampa Bay.

In one tweet, as first noticed by For The Win, the Panthers cleverly — but subtly — took a shot at the NFL, whose rule bans everything from game highlights to GIFs, with the exception of re-posting NFL's footage.

In a moment ripe for posting video, the Panthers instead tweeted a GIF file name spelled out. They mocked the rules preventing them from posting the actual video of quarterback Derek Anderson connecting with Kelvin Benjamin for a 17-yard gain.

AndersonToBenjamin.gif

17 yard gain!

#KeepPounding— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) October 10, 2016

But here's the thing.

Though For The Win first reported the tweet, it's no longer embedded within the story. Clicking on the timestamp link leads to a page that doesn't exist, which is standard procedure for deleted tweets. Mashable never saw the original tweet on the Panthers' timeline, making its very existence a bit murky.

The tweet is technically fair game, and the rules hadn't even gone into effect at the time it appeared to be sent, but the NFL likely didn't appreciate the Panthers' cheekiness. Many also noticed the disappearing tweet and speculated that the team would be -- or had been -- reprimanded somehow.

The Panthers and the NFL did not immediately respond when Mashable asked if the tweet had been deleted.

It wouldn't be surprising if the NFL had a hand in getting it removed, though. In 2016, the league is already getting called the "No Fun League" as it cracks down on some of the more expressive, entertaining parts of the game, like touchdown celebrations and creatively designed cleats.

So what happened to the tweet? The world may never know -- which is probably exactly how the NFL likes it.