2012 NFL Pro Bowl: Why NFL's Twitter Policy Is Just Plain Stupid

CNBC's Darren Rovell tweeted today that the NFL will allow players to tweet from the sidelines during Sunday's Pro Bowl, and that there will actually be a designated Twitter area on each sideline.

Really? This is where we've come in the NFL?

While I think players tweeting during the game isn't a terrible idea, making a big production out of it with a "tweeting area" will only make the whole thing seem forced.

The best thing about athletes on Twitter is that it is organic and things pop up that they want to share with their fans from time to time.

What's the best that could come from "designated" tweeting? I imagine we'll get a lot of, "That was a sick catch, bro!" and, "It was really great meeting (insert teammate Twitter handle here) and playing against (insert opponent Twitter handle here)."

What would have been great is if the NFL actually understood the whole reason athletes and fans love Twitter: the personal interaction. If guys could just chill anywhere on the sideline and answer tweets from fans at random—in between actually participating in the game—that would be excellent.

The NFL should have announced the day of the game that guys would be allowed to use Twitter on the sidelines at all times, if they so chose. That would have shown that the league really gets it.

After a guy gets beat for a touchdown, maybe fans could ask what he saw and why he missed his assignment, etc. That would be a genuine connection. 

This all just seems forced, like the NFL is trying to latch on to a phenomenon and control it in a hermetically sealed way, essentially defeating the whole purpose of Twitter in the first place.