Did Bucs Tell McCoy To Stop Twittering?
May 9th, 2010
Maybe manbeast-in-waiting Gerald McCoy lost his laptop or his Blackberry.
Perhaps something simple like that happened to make him end his Twitter obsession.
Or, perhaps it was a tap on shoulder nine days ago at Buccaneers rookie minicamp. Joe’s secret embedded camera at One Buc Palace did record the following exchange:
Raheem The Dream: GMC, before you start being your best self out here, I gotta tell you something. You need to lay off the Internet, and things of that nature.
Gerald McCoy: What do you mean, Rah?
Raheem The Dream: All I know is Dominik says Twitter isn’t one of our core beliefs. And you gotta be true to your core beliefs to be your best self.
Of course, Joe’s secret camera is unreliable. But, for some reason, McCoy hasn’t sent out a Twitter message since a few hours before Bucs rookie minicamp started on April 30.
It seems pretty easy to connect the dots and conclude that the Bucs likely quashed McCoy’s Twitter addiction.
Jack Bechta, the resident player agent/columnist on NationalFootballPost.com, penned an interesting look at NFL players and social media the other day.
Unfamiliar with social media? Think Twitter, Facebook and the many ways players — and anyone – can fire up an account and start sharing all sorts of everything personal and professional.
All of my rookie clients who just returned from their first minicamp were briefed on what they should and shouldn’t say to the media. One team even told its players that they should “think twice” before tweeting or talking about their experiences in minicamp. Twitter, Facebook and other outlets makes coaches and GMs a little nervous. I know of one GM and ownernship group who have grown so irritated and tired of their top players’ social efforts that they decided to clean house of those individuals. The team has already recently parted ways with three players and has its sights set on several more it would like to see go. The brass simply feels that their players’ focus should be 100 percent on winning and not be distracted on building their own brand.
Hopefully, the Bucs didn’t use their Myron Rolle tactics to intimidate McCoy into dumping his Twitter account.
Joe’s all in favor of the team setting social media boundaries for players, but Joe doesn’t think teams should tell players to kill it altogether.
Used with a little discretion, a player’s social media account ultimately bonds fans to the player and builds interest in his team, which is good for everyone.
Joe hopes to read McCoy’s next tweet — before he retires.
May 9th, 2010 at 10:52 am
I don’t use tweet or those types of means to make contact with others. I do understand where you are coming from though. I will let Joe do all my information gathering concerning the Buccaneers. Thanks for all you do.
May 9th, 2010 at 10:55 am
I guess it’s impossible to be sure…..but I know if I was a GM, or even a players agent for that matter, I would strongly recommend staying away from those sites…..
Seriously, whats the more likely text from a future story: “Player X tweeted X, and that 140 character post just made him an extra $X on his next contract, and also brought him closer to his teammates” or “Player X just tweeted X and made himself look like a moron.”
May 9th, 2010 at 11:05 am
Thanks for the compliment Kirk! Much appreciated.
May 9th, 2010 at 11:33 am
either way, McCoy NOT twittering is a positive…
May 9th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
I agree with Kirk. Also when is Joesraysfan coming. Heard you were looking into it.
May 9th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Thanks topdoggie.
Joe wants to launch JoeRaysFan but he has to have the sufficient revenue to justify the time Joe would need to devote to JoeRaysFan.
Joe already has his hands full with this here site.
May 10th, 2010 at 8:39 am
I understand why girls like to use Twitter. After all, they are girls. But REAL MEN don’t even know how to use Twitter. A reputation is best built by the admiration of others, not self promotion.
May 10th, 2010 at 9:29 am
If you don’t follow the right people on Twitter, you’re missing out on TONS of solid information.
Personally, Joe doesn’t give a damn that (insert name) is picking his/her nose at the red light or that they just passed gas after eating a Big Mac.
Just look at the Bucs information Joe gleams from Twitter on a given week for example.