Steelers safety Ryan Clark thinks social media sites like Twitter are “ruining the world.” Redskins (for now) quarterback Donovan McNabb hasn’t gone quite that far. McNabb merely thinks that pro athletes shouldn’t use it.
The topic came up during an in-studio interview of McNabb on ESPN 1ooo’s Waddle & Silvy, in conjunction with the criticism of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, from guys like Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew, that came from other NFL players on Twitter after a knee injury sidelined Cutler for the second half of the NFC title game.
“First of all I’m not a fan of Twitter,” McNabb said, via a transcript provided to PFT by ESPN 1000. “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 a game when you wanna be playing in it but you’re mad you’re not playing in it, so you’re gonna criticize someone that’s playing in it. I don’t believe that that’s the right deal. That’s not professional by any means and, you know, we’re all in a fraternity, so if you see a guy who’s struggling, this isn’t the time to jump on him or kick him while he’s down, you know, because that same guy will come against you and kinda blast your team out the water. So I think for an athlete to be Twittering is the wrong move, it’s one that [athletes should] leave to the fans and let them comment on certain things, but athletes need to get off Twitter.”
McNabb makes a lot of sense. Fortunately for those of us who like to capture the thoughts of athletes in candid moments -- like sitting at home and feeling impulsive, possibly after having a cocktail or two -- not many athletes will heed McNabb’s advice.