What are Phins Players Tweeting about NFLPA/NFL Negotiations?
By author
We are in a social networking surround. It is hard to distinguish between work, life, and play and our nearly continuous connectedness further heightens the issue. Hundreds of millions of people participate in various ways and on various social networking systems…and of course, so are many sports figures including, pro football players, and some of the Miami Dolphins.
The New York Times had a great article in the paper on Tuesday, Febraury 22, 2011 entitled, “N.F.L. Labor Dispute Plays Out on Twitter.” The nut of the article is that with the advent of social media and technology, this collective bargaining has been covered leveraging players, some owners, millions of fans, and a multiple channels (including social networking systems like Facebook and Twitter). This is a first for collective bargaining of a major professional sport. In particular players like, Eric Winston- Houston Texans (@ericwinston); Robert Mathis – Indianapolis Colts (@RobertMathis98); and LeCharles Bentley – New Orleans Saints (@LeCharlesBent65) have expressed their opinions vocally on happenings at the NFLPA meetings.
Many players according to the NFLPA Union have Twitter accounts (716 of the 1,900) and Chad Ochocinco (@ochocinco) has more than 1.7 million followers and leads the NFL. The NFL Player’s Association even has a lockout page dedicated to recent NFL player tweets on the potential upcoming lockout.
So…that got me wondering. Are any of the Miami Dolphin tweeters getting into the mix on the negotiations and/or potential lockout? I did some research and identified multiple Miami Dolphin players and their Twitter handles and then created a private Twitter list with those members. I then pulled up the list (MiamiDolphinAlumni) and reviewed some of the recent tweets from the players. Most of them over the past week haven’t tweeted on it, but found one tweet from Tony McDaniel (@TonyMcDaniel78) on February 17th, where he shared good news that the NFLPA & NFL had agreed to seven straight days of talks to help reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Many of the players were involved in off-season workouts, exercising, traveling, and working on charitable causes. I will try to share various Twitter handles of players as I find them. Feel free to share others you may know through the comment section.
This is my first article on the blog…let me know what you think, and feel free to share with others.
Just a quick intro: I am a geographically-challenged forty-year fan of the Miami Dolphins (following since I was 7). Originally from Florida, now living in Poulsbo, Washington, and am most thankful for DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket. I am a fantasy football fanatic and on any given Sunday am reviewing stats and players in real time in my man cave on a 96-inch projector screen. My most recent book is on social networking for business and I am very interested in the social networking aspects of the game and in particular…Miami Dolphin players, staff, and fans. I am also very interested in how other geographically-challenged Dolfans cope.
Darin Hartley – (@soc_net_writer)