10 NFL Players Who Need to Stick to Football and Stay off Twitter

Twitter can be an athlete's worst enemy.

When it comes to connecting with fans and giving updates about your career, Twitter can be a useful tool for NFL players. But athletes are people too, and it's human nature to let your emotions get the best of you from time to time.

Knowing this, reporters watch Twitter timelines like hawks, and it only takes one frustrated tweet to reach mainstream news. That's why NFL players need to use Twitter cautiously and limit their tweets as they focus on their careers.

These are the players who need to stick to football and hold back on the tweets.

Chad Ochocinco

Twitter is Chad Ochocino's baby.

Of all of the players in the NFL, Ochocinco uses Twitter the most. So, asking him to give up Twitter would obviously fall on deaf ears, but it would serve the six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver a lot of good.

In case you haven't noticed, Ochocinco is a bit of a wild card. He uses Twitter to play with fans on gaming devices, uses it to have someone pick him up and take him to malls on road trips and he's used it to pay people's way at movie theaters.

That's the cool side of it, but Ochocinco has also used Twitter to try and start fights with some of the baddest men on the planet, too. He once tried to bait Anderson Silva into fighting him, and just recently, he called out Arthur and Chandler Jones' brother, Jon Jones.

Rather than suffering from a beating by either of those men, Ochocinco should concentrate more on becoming a legit threat in the NFL again.

Rob Gronkowski

Though it might not have come from his Twitter account, Rob Gronkowski may never live down his pictures with adult film star BiBi Jones last season.

Jones took a picture of the both of them and posted it on her timeline to "get him more Twitter followers." I'm not saying that the picture wasn't intended for that, but I must say it is a very suggestive picture.

And even if it was for the sake of getting more followers, that's not the way Gronkowski should have gone about it. He has to realize that he's on a pedestal now, and everything he does is going to be criticized, just like his dance moves following the Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants.

To Gronkowski's credit, he was very apologetic about the incident, and he seemed sincere about not intending to hurt the New England Patriots organization.

Arian Foster

There's nothing I appreciate more than a man keeping it real.

That's exactly what Arian Foster does on his Twitter account, and though I enjoy it, it doesn't mean it's the best thing for his career.

Last season, Foster attacked fantasy football fans on Twitter who were only concerned about his injury for their fantasy teams, and though I agree with him 100 percent, it's never a smart decision to go after the fans.

Foster would then tweet an MRI picture of his knee, which is a big no-no. The reason he should have never tweeted that picture is because his opponents and competition are also on Twitter, and you don't want to give them any more insight about you than they already have.

These are mistakes that Foster needs to avoid making in the 2012 season, but then again, hopefully he won't have an injury to tweet about.

James Harrison

James Harrison represents those who speak their minds 24/7 and those who are basically anti-establishment.

Just like Stone Cold Steve Austin did back in the day to Vince McMahon, Harrison has targeted Roger Goodell, and he's made him public enemy No. 1.

But he's also made a few enemies along the way in the NFL, and he's made them via Twitter.

Following "Spygate" and the New England Patriots' second Super Bowl loss to the New York Giants, Harrison took to Twitter and posted, "Told you, cheaters never win!!!!!!!!!"

Ouch, that's what we call kicking someone when they're down, and those types of tweets could get you in trouble.

In Goodell's world of the NFL, you have to be careful about anything you say or do, or there might be repercussions. But then again, Harrison has never been the type to fear consequences.

Ryan Clark

Joining Harrison on this list is his partner in crime, Ryan Clark.

Much like Harrison, Clark is very outspoken and will tell you exactly how he feels on just about anything. For example, Clark has made statements such as no one wants to join the Miami Dolphins on Twitter.

And, like his buddy Harrison, Clark chimed in on the Patriots losing to the Giants again. He took to Twitter following the loss and said, "0-2 post spy gate! Just saying!!"

I guess it's safe to say there's no love lost between the Patriots and the Steelers. This furthermore gives me reason to believe that athletes on Twitter is a great example of First World Problems.

Matt Forte

Matt Forte is a respectable man who has done nothing but carry his workload with the utmost class, but even the good ones fumble every now and then on social media.

Following the Chicago Bears' acquisition of Michael Bush, Forte used Twitter as his way to notify fans of his growing frustrations. But really all it did was make Forte out to be something he isn't—a prima donna. 

Forte tweeted, "There's only so many times a man that has done everything he's been asked to do can be disrespected! Guess the GOOD GUYS do finish last...."

With the drama intensifying in Chicago during the offseason, Forte's best bet is to stay off of Twitter and focus on staying healthy to be the feature back for the Bears.

Pacman Jones

As much as Adam "Pacman" Jones gets into trouble, Twitter is really not the best thing for him.

Any time you have to get on Twitter to declare your innocence and say that you weren't drunk following a run-in with the police in Cincinnati, that should serve as a sign that maybe this isn't for you.

Since then, Jones has continued to tweet with fans to try rebuilding his image. His image has already been tarnished in the past with his problems on various teams around the league, so he's on thin ice from fans' perspectives.

Jones is but a slip-up away on Twitter from bringing that image back to light.

Darnell Dockett

As I'm writing this slide show, I'm currently pulled over by police officers.

I hope they have a search warrant, because I'm not letting these guys search my car! Quite frankly, I have all day, so hopefully I can waste their time while they're trying to waste mine!

Man, these cops really think I'm stupid, don't they. I just refuse to let these jokers look into my car.

Do you see how unprofessional this is?

I'm typing out information about getting pulled over by the cops, and this is going to be read by the masses. That's exactly what Darnell Dockett did on Twitter when he was pulled over by the cops last year.

Some things are just better left unsaid.

Roddy White

It's a politically correct world in which we live.

I have to remember that, you have to remember that and you better believe the athletes in the NFL have to remember it.

Roddy White must have forgotten, though, when he sent an anti-gay tweet.

White caught some flak for that, and he caught flak for targeting NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Twitter earlier this year.

White took a page out of Harrison's book, when he tweeted ""Roger Goodell is getting over never seen anything like it 20 million for looking over the league with tremendous help I guess the NFL is banking."

And just as recently as a day-and-a-half ago, White tweeted this:

It's crazy how football players are killing our game you signed up to play a violent game and made a lot of money now u talk bad about #how

"— Roddy White (@roddywhiteTV) May 9, 2012"

I don't think targeting your boss's salary and calling out legends of the sports would be considered the brightest of ideas.

Reggie Bush

NFL fans were panicking at the slightest thought of not having an NFL season, but Reggie Bush wasn't.

Instead, Bush was "making the most of it," and he treated it as a vacation for himself, which is something that he shared with the world via Twitter.

Bush then tried to play it off like it was a joke or something, but once a tweet is viral, there's no turning back.

Better yet, if Bush was joking, how are fans supposed to tell?

If athletes misuse Twitter, it can serve as their personal downfall, and it can cause a lot of grief for them. That tweet certainly brought Bush a lot of criticism, and for hitting send, he deserved it.