NFL Draft 2011: Is Twitter the Key to Success for John Elway and Denver Broncos?

@JohnElway WE WANT CAM NEWTON!

It’s a simple innocuous little message that can be sent directly to the Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Denver Broncos. It’s probably one of thousands that John Elway gets everyday, but is Twitter really a useful tool for helping to rebuild the Denver Broncos?

For the first time in Denver Bronco history, fans are getting the most up to the minute information about the team from the only Bronco they care to hear it from. John Elway has made a savvy move by creating a Twitter empire that is growing daily.

The reason that this has become so successful is because Elway is actually breaking real news via his Twitter account.

Denver Broncos fans who were following Elway got the news about the hiring of coach John Fox first. They were able to read the outstanding tweet that welcomed Champ Bailey back to the Broncos at the same time as most news media types.

Do we dare say that before Roger Goodell reads the name of the No. 2 pick in the National Football League Draft, Bronco fans will already know the name?

John Elway has found a way to reconnect Broncos fans by inserting them into the same pipeline of pertinent information about the team as the Denver Post, ESPN and the rest of the heavy hitters in sports journalism.

Still, it was his tweet on March 16th that creates a very big question:

@johnelway

John Elway

Many talented prospects in this year’s draft—which players do you like? Who do you want to see in a Bronco uniform?

WOW! Can we really believe that John Elway is reading all of our tweets and is going to use that to make a draft decision?

If enough Elway Twitter followers would tweet, “@JohnElway WE WANT CAM NEWTON!” then it leaves Elway in quite the quandary.

On the one hand he is going to be giving the most vocal of the Broncos supporters exactly what they claim to want which should further endear him to his already loving public.

Although, if this pick ends up being a bust the fans won’t be on the hook like Elway.

Please keep in mind that any name can be inserted into the above tweet and the point remains the same. Would Elway actually cave to the demands of the Broncos faithful if their voice was loud enough?

If Josh McDaniels would have used this medium on draft day, could he have avoided many of the draft landmines that eventually helped cause his demise?

It’s a slippery slope when the door gets opened to every casual fan that has ever read a draft analysis to start throwing in their two cents. Odds are that Elway is not paying much attention to tweets suggesting, “Cody Hawkins could be a draft day steal at No.2.”

The overzealous and crazy tweets are easy to ignore but if a singular message gains traction and shows up 70,000 times in a tweet to Elway, it may be harder to ignore.

Clearly, the landscape of journalism and social media is changing everyday. To this point John Elway has done an excellent job of using it to his advantage and mending fences with disgruntled Broncos fans who have a need to feel more connected.

I guess we will all find out at the NFL Draft but for the moment I think Bronco fans should give Elway exactly what he seems to be asking for.

Fill in the Blank: @JohnElway WE WANT __________________!