Donovan McNabb says athletes need to get off Twitter

There has been a lot of chatter in Washington this offseason and one of the Redskins who’s been mostly quiet has been Donovan McNabb, who isn’t expected to be a Redskin much longer.

John Beck is the flavor of the month at quarterback right now there. Rex Grossman believes he’ll be in fine position to compete for the job, assuming he’s re-signed. And then there’s McNabb, who hasn’t said a whole lot, but did stop to visit with WMVP-AM 1000 in Chicago on Friday.

One thing McNabb positively is opposed to is the wonderful world of Twitter. While many athletes use the social media platform in efforts to grow their brand, McNabb sees way more harm in it than good.

First of all, I’m not a fan of Twitter,” McNabb said in the interview transcribed by sportsradiointerviews.com. “Nothing against their program or what they have, but as an athlete I think you need to get off Twitter. All these social networks of you tweeting about you watching a game when you wanna be playing in it, but you’re mad you’re not playing in it, so you’re gonna criticize someone that’s playing in it. I don’t believe that that’s the right deal.

“That’s not professional by any means and you know we are all in a fraternity, so if you see a guy who’s struggling this isn’t the time to jump on him or kick him while he’s down because that same guy will come against you and kinda blast your team out the water, so I think for an athlete to be twittering is the wrong move. It’s one of those things to leave to the fans and let them comment on certain things, but athletes need to get off Twitter.”

There happen to be many athletes, however, who have used Twitter in responsible manners and some have even done some great charity work using it. Others keep in touch with their fans. It's a way for athletes to shape their own message, and McNabb misses the mark here.

McNabb also weighed in on the player-run workouts around the league this offseason. He called them out for being what they are – largely worthless. It’s difficult for football players to get better without coaches around. If it’s conditioning, it’s one thing. Other than that … listen to McNabb.

“There’s easy ways to get together and for offensive guys to go out there and throw routes and run plays and things of that nature,” he said. “I believe it’s become a show where guys have gotten everyone together. It’s amazing.”

Follow me on Twitter: @BradBiggs

Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune

Upcoming Games