McNabb wants athletes off of Twitter

Although I don't believe that any athletes asked him for his advice, Donovan McNabb has advised athletes to stay off of Twitter. Appearing on ESPN 1000 in Chicago, McNabb was asked about what happened during this year's NFC title game, when many players knocked Bears QB Jay Cutler via Twitter for not returning to the game after injuring his knee, McNabb said (as transcribed by Dan Steinberg on the Bog):

First of all, I’m not a fan of tweeting, I’m not a fan of Twitter. Nothing against their program or what they have, but as an athlete I think you need to get off of Twitter. All these social networks of you tweeting about you watching the game when you want to be playing in it but you’re mad you’re not playing in it so you’re gonna criticize someone who’s playing in it. I don’t believe that that’s the right deal. That’s not professional by any means. And we’re all in a fraternity, so if you see a guy who’s struggling, this isn’t the time to try to jump on him or kick him while he’s down, because that same guy will come against you and kind of blast your team out of the water. So I think for an athlete to be twittering is the wrong move. It’s one that leads to the fans and let them comment on certain things, but athletes need to get off twitter.

Certainly, McNabb is entitled to his opinion, but this is like saying that athletes should not drive cars because they can get into accidents. Intelligent use of Twitter by athletes to engage fans and to have fun can enhance an athlete's off-field image and opportunities. If you use it to pound out dumb stuff without thinking before hitting "send" it might have the opposite effect. If McNabb chooses not to be on Twitter, that's fine. But that's his decision and other athletes should make their decisions.

Comments

[culprit59]

1. Lol. What people have to realize is this, the people that play in the NFL are grown ass men. There going to do what they want to do and Mcnabb should stay out of there business and focus on his own.

2. Mcnabb tries to lead and no one follows, so I honestly don't know why Mcnabb wastes his breathe. I know I'm kicking a dead horse with this one, but am I the only one that realizes that none of his team mates no matter where he goes stands up for this guy?

[Jason]

Some athletes certainly should stay off Twitter. The ones who can't stop themselves from saying something stupid, that gets them, or their team, in trouble.

[Jason]

Speaking of why athletes should stay off of twitter: Hankerson has been on in the last hour talking about driving 80+ miles per hour and almost getting caught by the police. Ugggggggggggggggg!