Well it’s been decided. In what appears to be an attempt to limit play-by-play disclosure, Roger Goodell has metaphorically killed two birds with one stone– the first in the form of the light blue avian Twitter mascot and the second (less literal) being my desire to follow NFL players during game-time.

I can see the most logical reasoning behind restricting NFL athletes to Tweetlessness during matches and for a 90-minute window before and after games (i.e. distractions, play-by-play disclosure). But after reading several articles I still can’t figure out the main reason for doing this.

My Top Three Theories:

1. Betting: Someone injured and Tweets about it before an injury report? Might sway some bets in Vegas. Gotta draw the line between fan communication and the disclosure of bet-able information.
2. Distractions: Although I’m fascinated by what is going through Randy Moss’s head before high-stepping into the endzone for a touchdown, other people may find it excessive and distracting.
3. Case-By-Case: There have been several issues where someone has been fined over a tweet. Antonio Cromartie from the Chargers complained about Dolphin’s stadium food and was punished with a $2,500 fine. By making one rule that bans tweets altogether, it eliminates the need for individual cases, like Cromartie food-slagging.

Those are my three best guesses. I’d like to hear some of your theories, because I can’t find an article that explains the reasoning behind it. However, odds are it has something to do with betting. But keep in mind:

• Why is football the exception? Why not other sports like baseball and basketball?
• Why the 90 minute window? Is 90 minutes the official social media buffer time limit?

Quick Quiz: Which NFL team has the most active Twitter users?

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