As today's NFL headlines and BTB stories suggest, the player of today is capable of reaching out to the public whenever they see fit. Not only are news media more ready than ever to grab a quote and put it in the next day's paper, but these things often circulate the web long before the ink dries. News sites, blogs and such snap up these opportunities. The players themselves, are now able to speak directly to the fans via social media such as Facebook and Twitter. You can gain a lot of insight into the behind the scenes of the current and former Cowboys players, especially for pop psychologists with too much time on their hands like myself.
For instance, before the lockout was lifted, I had a good sense that a certain player missing from yesterday's Romo-workouts had been 'off the grid' based on tweets to and from others that wouldn't make sense if they were in regular communications with their teammates. I look at the tweets of the free agents that are in the most limbo because of the lockout and see motivational messages and faith-based tweets continuously. I see that Martellus Bennett is engaged, and still hilarious. For all the flak given him by the media, including myself, Martellus seems like a really good dude based on his numerous tweets.
Did you know Martellus follows BTB on Twitter? Bennett, Leonard Davis and Marc Colombo are all followers, as well as five-time Super Bowl champion and Cowboy legend Charles Haley. As O.C.C. wrote back in February, some players like Gerald Sensabaugh keep track of our stories and retweet the links.
I also get a chance to see Tyron Smith's first interaction with his new teammates, Bennett, Choice, Teddy Williams, etc. etc.
Make the jump for more Social Media goodness...
It's also interesting to see what big names follow the NFL and it's players. I know President Barack Obama is said to be a Bears fan, but keeps up on the latest Cowboys news. I have a master plan to get him to become a BTB member :)
If you are new to these types of social media I would advise that you avoid the mistake of holding 'tweets' and 'status updates' against these young men. These social media conventions are intended to, first and foremost, be a person's opportunity to communicate digitally with friends. You'll often times see language and humor that the players wouldn't use in front of the camera. Normally, most guys are on good behavior.
I myself rejected the Twitter movement for a long time, but have finally succumbed. If you care to follow my musings on the Cowboys, the NFL, and sports and life in general, feel free to follow me @KDP10For10. You can of course follow BTB, @BloggingTheBoys. Here's what I could gather as far as twitter accounts of our new players, and the A listing of the ones I was already following. If you can locate any of the players that I couldn't find, let me know in the comments and I'll add them to the main post. Enjoy.
Draft Picks:
Tyron Smith - @TySmith77
Anyone in Cowboy Nation know any of my teammates that on this ish that should follow?
Draft Picks | Current Cowboys | Former Players | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tyron Smith - @TySmith77 | Dez Bryant @Dez_88 | Marion Barber - @24marionbarber | Charles Haley - @CharlesHaley94 | ||
Bruce Carter - doesn't exist (yet) | Felix Jones - @felixjones28 | Jason Hatcher - @hatcher97 | Troy Aikman - @Troy_Aikman | ||
DeMarco Murray - @DeMarcoMurray | Jason Witten - @JasonWitten | Sam Young - @bigyoungin76 | Emmitt Smith - @EmmittSmith22 | ||
David Arkin - doesn't exist (yet) | Orlando Scandrick - @oscandrick32 | Chris Gronkowski - @ChrisGronkowski | Michael Irvin - @michaelirvin88 (inactive) | ||
Josh Thomas - doesn't exist (yet) | Steven Bowen - @Stevebo72 | Gerald Sensabaugh - @GSensabaugh | Darren Woodson - @darrenwoodson28 | ||
Dwayne Harris - @D_Harris17 (currently must be approved to follow) | Barry Church - @BarryChurch42 | Brandon Williams - @bwill59 | |||
Shaun Chapas - doesn't exist | Tashard Choice - @tchoice23 | Alan Ball - @TheRealAlanBall | |||
Bill Nagy - doesn't exist | Martellus Bennett - @Martellus80 | Marc Colombo - @marccolombo | |||
Kevin Ogletree - @KOforPrez | Leonard Davis - @LeonardDavis70 | ||||
Marcus Spears - @mspear96 | Free Reign Band - @freereignband | ||||
Miles Austin - @MilesAustinIII | Terence Newman - @terencenewman41 (quest.) | ||||
Jesse Holley - @Mr4thandLong | Bryan McCann - @bmac929 | ||||
Andrew Sendejo - @asendejo | Jerry Jones - @realjerryjones | ||||
Stephen McGee - @StephenMcGee07 | Danny McCray - @dannydmac44 | ||||
Martin Rucker - @RuckerSouthSide | Manny Johnson - @manueljohnson | ||||
Lonyae Miller - @yeezy35 | Josh Brent - @jbrent92 | ||||
Teddy Williams - @Teddy_Williams | Alex Daniels - @AlexDaniels4 |