Chad Ochocinco Fined For Tweets: NFL Commissioner Going Too Far?

Oft-maligned Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco was fined $25,000 today by commissioner Roger Goodell for violating two of the league's policies during last Friday night's preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

The recently implemented rules, which have been talked about numerous times on various media outlets, were apparently not important enough for the ever-so-vain Ochocinco to adhere to. The rules state that, from 90 minutes prior to kickoff until post-game media obligations are complete, players may not possess electrical devices on the sidelines or post messages on social media websites.

Ochocinco did both of these things. Twice. On Twitter.

At 6:50, just 77 minutes before kickoff, Ochocinco tweeted, "Just talk with Kelly Washington, Desean Jackson, Geoff Pope, Hank Baskett and I caught a ball from Mike Vick, I love prw-game warm up."

While this was well before the game, it was still within the specifically defined window of non-Tweetability.

Then, in the heat of the game, he again Tweeted. This time, "Man Im sick of getting hit like that, it's the damn preseason (expletive deleted)! 1day I'm gone jump up and start throwing hay makers ,#Tylenolplease".

Okay, Ochocinco, we get it. We know you like to Tweet. You do at least 20 times a day, so why should you stop for a silly rule, right?

Wrong.

The NFL is absolutely in the right in fining Ochocinco, or any player for that matter, for making comments such as these (especially the latter) immediately prior to and during the game. The league has contracts with media outlets worth millions upon millions of dollars, and if every player was voicing their opinion from the sideline there would be no reason to hold post-game interviews.

Can you imagine how boring the NFL would be if you had to check every player's Twitter feed to get their take on the game, all throughout the game? And the gems that we would miss out on without post-game press conferences?

Without press conferences, we would've never known that the Bears were who Dennis Green and the Cardinals THOUGHT they were, Jim Mora would have never discussed the playoffs (???) with anyone, and Mike Ditka would have been a run-of-the-mill, hard-headed football coach with a mysterious personality.

Meanwhile, Ochocinco continues to defy the NFL rule book no matter how explicitly and intentionally he may be violating it. While his on-field antics have been curbed somewhat due to new rules, he has still found ways to mambo, jig and shimmy his way to fines left and right.

But with his most recent violation, he has crossed the line.

NFL games are sacred—to the coaches, to the players and most importantly to the fans. Husbands ignore their wives' chore requests for hours on Sunday afternoons, students put off studying until after their team (and everyone in their division) is done playing. Game time means one thing: Football.

So for the sake of protecting the sanctity of football and those who played it before today, the NFL has produced a very fine rule in banning such vain activities from going on during game play.

However, from the sound of his latest Tweet, Ochocinco says he's done violating this particular rule, as the fine was "2 monthsof my Bugatti payments".

Never mind the fact that you should be paying attention to your job, Ochocinco, just keep worrying about your Bugatti. That's sure to keep your fans and employers happy.

While Goodell has taken flack during his tenure as commissioner for being Draconian in the fines and suspensions he has handed down, this one is surely merited. Hopefully players will take note of this steep fine, though I'm guessing most of them just paid attention the first time.