NFL players trade value goes up when they kill on Twitter, expert says

Mike Germano, a social-media adviser to the NFL Player Development Department, told the Boston Herald on September 19, “I believe that the NFL trades are based as much on a player’s social currency as on his performance record.” 

Germano’s statement is one of the first bonafide, on-the-record comments by someone affiliated with a professional sports league that an athlete’s on-line appeal might be equal to his abilities to perform inside the lines. The fact is this: If your NFL team has a second-string quarterback ready to be dealt, he might fetch better picks if he’s outspoken and savvy with smart phones and such tablet devices as iPads than if he’s a social-media dud.

Germano, president and co-founder of digital agency Carrot Creative as well as adviser to the NFL, made his comments after reports that Bill Belichick, head coach and grumpy mastermind of the New England Patriots, recently asked wide receiver Chad Ochocinco to tone things down on Twitter.

If you are an NFL fan who wants to help their team in every way, you are not alone. And here’s one thing you can add to your repertoire: If you know your team is getting ready to trade out of a quarterback controversy, or likely to move any other player on your team, you might want to pump up the trade bait’s Twitter presence. You can do that simply by adding a Twitter follow to that soon-to-be-dealt player, and then tossing him some @ sign openers. Facebook, foursquare and a host of other smartphone- and tablet-accessible applications are also available to an NFL fan who wants to help the general manager get the highest value in a deal.

The trend of player values based on social-media abilities isn’t going to end. The NFL has become a game with a 360-degree view, and is perhaps the most advanced sport in using social media to enhance the fan experience. But, since social media is a two-way street,  it only makes your 12th-man skills more valuable. There will forever be immeasurable value in your ability to help quiet the stadium when your team is at home, has the ball on the opponent’s one-yard line, with 30 seconds left of a tie game.  But your ability to engage the players on your team with social media skills is becoming just as strategic.

Courtesy of Twitter, find your favorite team and start following them during the 2011 season. These links will take you to the best tweets from your team’s players, local media that covers your team, owners, coaches and official team accounts.

Simply find your favorite team, click on the hyperlink, add it to your Twitter follow list. Do that, and you will never be alone when following your favorite team:

NFC
East: The Washington Redskins [@RedskinsTweets], the Philadelphia Eagles [@EaglesTweets], the New York Giants [@GiantsTweets], the Dallas Cowboys [@CowboysTweets]

North: The Green Bay Packers [@PackerTweets], the Minnesota Vikings [@VikingsTweets], the Chicago Bears [@CHIBearsTweets], the Detroit Lions [@LionsTweets]

South: The Atlanta Falcons [@FalconsTweets], the Carolina Panthers [@PanthersTweets], the New Orleans Saints [@SaintsTweets], the Tampa Bay Buccaneers [@BuccaneerTweets]

West: The San Francisco 49ers [@sf49erstweets], the Arizona Cardinals [@CardinalsTweets], the Seattle Seahawks [@SeahawksTweets], the St. Louis Rams [@STLRamsTweets]

AFC
East: The Buffalo Bills [@BUFBillsTweets], the Miami Dolphins [@Dolphins_Tweets], the New England Patriots [@NEPatriotTweets], the New York Jets [@NYJetsTweets]

North: The Baltimore Ravens [@RavensTweets], the Cincinnati Bengals [@BengalsTweets], the Cleveland Browns [@BrownsTweets], the Pittsburgh Steelers [@Steeler_Tweets]

South: The Houston Texans [@TexansTweets], the Indianapolis Colts [@ColtsTweets], the Jacksonville Jaguars [@JaguarsTweets], the Tennessee Titans [@TitansTweets]

West: The Denver Broncos [@BroncosTweets], the Kansas City Chiefs [@ChiefsTweets], the Oakland Raiders [@RaiderTweets], the San Diego Chargers [@ChargersTweets]