Cincinnati Bengals impose curfew on social media use during training camp – NFL News
The Cincinnati Bengals have imposed social media curfew on their players during training camp, barring them from using Twitter for any kind of postings.
Marvin Lewis, the head coach, while confirming the move said it is only to keep the players focused to the training and workout. He insisted it is only during training camp and apparently the players are free to use the networks once the camp is over.
He said:
"I don't see how tweeting is going to help us win a football game. So it's part of being selfless right now. It's not best for our football team to be involved in that. It's best that we just take care of ourselves and not announce what we're doing or not
doing, or who did this or who did that, and commenting on what's going on in other spots. Let's be football players."
It is another surprise move by a team in the league this year as a few days ago the Jacksonville Jaguars warned their players to refrain from making public statements about their injuries or else face a fine up to $10,000.
Some commentators believe that the Bengals' action to ban use of social networks during the camp is in the context of the Jaguars’ policy measure. It is not just the use of the networks; it is more about disclosing information regarding important developments
around the players such as their injuries. It often leads to controversies.
The use of Twitter is particularly made to break information by a majority of its members. One such example from within the league is of Indianapolis Colts’ owner Jim Irsay. He is a regular user of the site to break news concerning whole range of issues
of his team.
Nevertheless, the Bengals coach is determined to see the ban being implemented effectively. He hopes it will help them maintain discipline among players during the important phase of their preparation for the forthcoming season - the training camp.
Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, who reportedly does not have a Twitter account, says he does not see anything wrong with the measure, adding it is more to help the players at the end.
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