Andre Brown Tweets that he's fine, likely will be fined
Andre Brown celebrates a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during a game at MetLife Stadium. (Sept. 16, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
The NFL is reviewing an in-game Tweet by Andre Brown in which the concussed player told his followers that he was ok. That violates the league’s rules on the use of social media during a game and will likely result in Brown being fined this week. In a somewhat similar case last year, Steelers safety Troy Polamalu was fined $10,000 for calling his wife from the sideline to tell her that he was ok after suffering a concussion.
In 2009 the league adopted a policy on the use of social media that created a blackout for coaches, players and football operations personnel from 90 minutes prior to the kickoff of any game until after post-game media interviews.
Brown suffered the concussion on a first-quarter kickoff return against the Browns, taking a head-on collision and coming off the field woozy. He was escorted to the Giants' locker room shortly after the hit and did not return to the field or sideline.
There is very little wiggle room in the wording of the policy, which even prohibits representatives or family members of of players from using a player's Twitter account (or any other social media platform) to provide any information during a game.
Brown’s Tweet from Sunday has been deleted from his timeline.
