Chad Johnson - I refuse to use his absurd new moniker - is getting a lot of press this week for claiming that he’ll be the first NFL player to tweet after scoring a touchdown. The NFL has been quick to refute that notion by standing by their ban on in-game use of mobile phones by player. I’ll have to agree with Adam Ostrow at Mashable in that Mr. Johnson should be worrying about much more important things like how to get along with his QB and how not to under-perform like he did last year. Sadly that’s probably not going to happen because if there’s any NFL player that is at the forefront of self promotion, Chad Johnson is that guy and Twitter is quickly becoming the weapon of choice among professional athletes.
Ostrow also mentioned that professional sports leagues need to get a handle on how their players are going to be using Twitter and social media. We’ve already seen the NBA crack down on it’s use during games, while other sports are embracing the tools. Lance Armstrong is getting some decent press and attention for tweeting updates during his quest for a record seventh Tour de France title.
The use of Twitter and Facebook to connect with fans is absolutely the right way to go for athletes. They have long had to rely on publicists and the media to get their story out, and the ability to remove the middleman and talk directly to fans is a huge leap forward for them. I don’t necessarily agree with Johnson’s TD celebration intentions simply because it’s further proof of his “me-first” attitude that I find incredibly irritating. But I do like the fact that he’s embracing social media in a very real way which is something more and more NFL players are likely to do this year.
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