Washington Redskins Allow Game Tweets: A Crack in the NFL Armor?

Did the Washington Redskins find a weak spot in the NFL social media policy?

I hope so.

As you know a couple of weeks ago, the NFL unveiled a social media policy tighter than Fort Knox, restricting anybody related to the NFL from utilizing social media 90 minutes before and after any NFL games.

I wrote earlier that I expect the NFL to enforce that policy on the players and personnel through hefty fines and public admonitions.  It has caused Chad Ochocinco to consider closing his Twitter account rather than attempting to fight the system.

However, the NFL's policy of restricting fans from using social media during games was something I didn't believe could be enforced. 

Now it looks like that one NFL team has thrown the NFL's defense off by testing that policy starting this Sunday.

In an article written by Aaron Brazell it says that the Washington Redskins are actually encouraging their fans to Tweet during games using the #redskins hashtag that will be posted on large screens in the stadium and online for those who aren't at the game.

Encouraging fan engagement during NFL football games?  What a novel concept!

If the Redskins are successful, which I completely believe they will be, I expect other NFL teams will come out with their own ways to get fans engaged using social media during games this fall.

When that happens, I hope the NFL will take notice and start looking to go from a defensive to an offensive mode and score points with social media savvy NFL fans...like me. 

--------------------------------------

Steve Raquel is sports fan and an online social media expert who helps professional athletes, individuals and businesses navigate and succeed in leveraging social media as the president of Illinois Online Ventures.  Contact Steve directly at sraquel@iovmedia or follow him on twitter at @sraquel.