PR Pros, Twitter and Fantasy Football
One banner hangs above my desk at home. Thanks to players like Clinton Portis and Randy Moss, and my deft coaching and motivating skills, I am a fantasy football champion.
My league held its draft last night, and ahead of making my picks, I scoured the news wires for information about players' health. There is nothing more embarrassing than picking a player who blew out his knee the week before. In our league, everyone's nice. Someone typically pipes up and says the player is hurt, but still-- it's embarrassing.
Lo and behold, there was huge news in the NFL fantasy world yesterday involving star running back Arian Foster, the Houston Texans fullback who was being picked first or second in most drafts. Foster tweeted yesterday an MRI image of his hamstring, which had been injured a few days earlier. Foster noted that a "white spot" on the image, the actual injury, was "anti-awesomeness."
The Tweet has gotten Foster in a lot of trouble. As a story in the "Bleacher Reporter" notes, the Tweet provides competitive intelligence to Foster's opponents, who now have knowledge of a physical vulnerability.
He's going to get fined for violating team rules. I am hoping the rule in question relates to a sophisticated social media policy for the Texans. Twitter is firmly embedded in the culture of football, and if used properly, it can help to grow and strengthen a fan base. An appropriate social media policy for NFL players would actually encourage Twitter use, but it would clearly note content that should not be tweeted, while explaining the consequences.
Something tells me the rule Foster violated is less savvy, and is more old school, restricting communication about injuries in general. And something also tells me we won't be seeing many tweets from Foster in the future. And for Texans fans, that's a shame.
Tags: arian foster, nfl, twitter
Posted by Ross Levanto on September 1, 2011 at 1:55 PM
