Ochocinco Tweets His Way into New England Patriots Doghouse

Maybe I'm too old? 

I just don't get it. I understand that the dynamics of modern social media make self-marketing very important. I know that people with legions of followers on twitter can create instant marketing opportunities with a well worded, well timed, succinct "tweet". With that being said, it seems that many of those that benefit the most from twitter in the world of athletics are also very prone to tweeting their way right into trouble. 

That's where Ochocinco enters the picture. Ochocinco, who was originally Chad Johnson, has had a good career in the NFL. Not great, good.

Ochocinco has been as much about selling himself and promoting himself as he's been about being a great football player. Loud, outspoken, a true showman on the field, all of these attributes are part of the reason that he has over 2.7 million followers on twitter. By contrast, Andre Johnson, the wide receiver for the Texans has just over 100,000 followers on twitter. 

I'm sure it's nice for Ochocinco to look at those numbers and think to himself how great it is that he has 27 times more followers than Andre Johnson. The problem of course is that Ochocinco isn't 27 times the wide out that Johnson is.

In fact he's not even equal to Andre Johnson when it comes to on-field football potential and performance. Johnson's career numbers aren't as good as Ocho's but he's also played in 36 less games. While speculation can sometimes be a risky business, I feel confident that were I to ask every NFL GM out there which receiver they would prefer on their roster, an overwhelming majority would choose Andre Johnson. 

Following Monday Night's Patriot victory over the Dolphins, a win in which Ochocinco was in on only 18 plays and caught one pass for 14 yards, Ochocinco tweeted about how awestruck he was while watching the Patriots play. There's nothing wrong with that except that a player isn't supposed to be "awestruck" especially if that player is actually on the very team that is entertaining him so much. 

"Tweeting" really doesn't take up much time. You're limited to only 140 characters so one can only be so wordy. Ochocinco has all those followers because he's an entertaining guy and a talented wide receiver. What he needs to realize is that every entertainer needs a stage, a platform from which they can showcase their talent.

Ochocinco would never had 2.7 million twitter followers if not for that fact that when he is focused, healthy, and in shape he can be a very good wide receiver.

Bill Belichick could probably care less how many twitter followers Ochocinco has. Belichick wants to win football games and as Bellichick has demonstrated over the course of his coaching career he really doesn't seem to care what the names of the players on the field are as long as they learn the game plan, show up and execute. Ask future Hall Of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss or former first round draft pick Brandon Meriweather how important past performances are to Belichick.

Don't mess this up Ochocinco. There are a lot of people out there that truly believe you're still plenty good enough to have an impact on the field. Stop drawing the ire of former Patriots such as Teddy Bruschi who on WEEI yesterday excoriated Ochocinco for his tweets

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/13/tedy-bruschi-tees-off-on-ochocinco/related/

If Ochocinco can't learn the plays, get on the field and make some plays then he'll be able to watch every game the Patriots play this season from his couch. That's not going to get you any more followers on twitter, but getting in the end zone while catching some passes from Tom Brady might work wonders.