A firing such as the one discussed on the last page can probably be chalked up to the old adage of “Don’t Cross the Boss.” That does not make it any less ridiculous. HOW DARE HE SOIL THE MIGHTY EAGLES ORGANIZATION ON HIS FACEBOOK PAGE! Give me a break. Warn him not to do it again. Firing him was truly “Retarted.”
People such as Dan Leone should not feel too singled out though. The NFL has added a new dimension to pre NFL draft scouting that may rank just below a prospect’s 40 time. That’s right, NFL teams have resorted to false Facebook and Myspace pages. According to this article NFL teams have started to set up faux Facebook pages as well as fake myspace profiles. They seem to be fairly savvy at doing it as well, by appearing to be an attractive woman as opposed to a star struck fan. You may notice that the picture in the above article features Matt Stafford holding a keg. College is supposed to be the time for teenagers to grow into young men, and the drinking as well as other debauchery that is almost accepted as a norm in most college towns is all of the sudden frowned upon if the student is an athlete. Kids need time to grow, mature, and make their own mistakes. If they show a little too much partying on Facebook then maybe that just means they will be easier to get along with.
There is no doubt that any professional organization invests a lot of time and money into pro drafts. But, is sneaking around posing as a hot chick on Facebook really the answer? Meet the young person face to face and judge them based on that. To sneak around is dishonest. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Dez Bryant paid a heavy price for dishonesty. The NFL should do all that they can to make sure they are making a safe investment in an athlete they can trust. At the same time, the NFL should also be up front with all potential players about what they are looking for. If one would like to see some pictures of various drunken athletes as well as other fun pictures that have presumably only seen the light of day because of new technology, just read my next post.
