Filed under: Football
The pro-sports leagues are still hating on Twitter. The NFL fined Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco $25,000 for tweeting during the team's preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday. According to NFL rules, players are not to tweet, use computers or any type of electronic equipment 90 minutes before kickoff and after they've fulfilled their media obligations following the game.
The game started at 8:07 p.m., and Ochocinco tweeted twice during the "no tweet zone."
At 6:50 p.m., Ochocinco tweeted:
"Just talk with Kelly Washington, Desean Jackson, Geoff Pope, Hank Baskett and I caught a ball from Mike Vick, I love prw-game warm up."
Then at 9:53 p.m., Ohcocinco tweeted:
"Man Im sick of getting hit like that , it's the damn preseason sh**! 1day I'm gone jump up and start throwing hay makers, #Tylenolplease."
"Man Im sick of getting hit like that , it's the damn preseason sh**! 1day I'm gone jump up and start throwing hay makers, #Tylenolplease."
On Tuesday, Ochocinco, once again, went on his Twitter account and apologized to the NFL for the tweets and promised it wouldn't happen again:
"#OCNNnews I've been fined by the league a substantial amount of money for tweeting, 1st time twitter hasn't made me money but cost me money," he said in the first tweet.
"Dear NFL I apologize for tweeting during the game but that was 2 months of my Bugatti payments you just took from me, I won't do it again," he added in a follow-up tweet.
As a fan, it's kind of fun to see what the players have to say during a game, how they're feeling, what they're thinking as they're winning or losing and what's motivating them at the moment.
It's interesting to see a player's mind-set in the midst of battle. The tweets right before a game, halftime or immediately after the last whistle give us a glimpse of that.
It's interesting to see a player's mind-set in the midst of battle. The tweets right before a game, halftime or immediately after the last whistle give us a glimpse of that.
At the same time, though, from a coach or a teammate's perspective, you want the player to be focused on the game and the adjustments needed when the player goes back on the field or court. The league just wants to maintain professionalism.
Unless your job is in social media, what boss would be okay with an employee tweeting or face booking when they're supposed to be working? It's understandable why the NFL or NBA doesn't want that going during games.
Unless your job is in social media, what boss would be okay with an employee tweeting or face booking when they're supposed to be working? It's understandable why the NFL or NBA doesn't want that going during games.
It's a fair tradeoff: They have to wait to get off work to play online, just like the rest of us.