For some time, there has been a quote floating around the Internet regarding the Information Age in which we all live.  It goes something like this…

“The stone age was marked by man's clever use of crude tools; the information age, to date, has been marked by man's crude use of clever tools.”

With that one line, you have the professional athlete and Twitter.

My interest in Twitter started with Larry Johnson.  Then a running back for the Kansas Chiefs, he managed to get himself scalped of $60,000 for getting into a keyboard-commando battle with a fan, calling him a “fag”. 

Never one to learn from his own mistakes, Johnson then proceeded to out his coaching staff for stuff that should have never left the training room, proclaiming that his father would do a better job at coaching. 

Maybe true, but some things you simply do not say. 

Publicly, anyway.

That piqued my interest in Twitter and now I keep close tabs on these guys. To date, my Twitter account has been stocked with every pro athlete I can find – Michael Oher, Le’Ron McClain, Chad OchoCinco, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Larry Johnson, Willis McGahee, Natalie Gulbis, Shane Carwin, Andy Roddick, Ray Rice – are but a few examples.

Each of the above has thousands of followers to their Twitter page.  Their obvious lack of grammatical talent aside, what remains so bizarre is the content that some of these athletes are STILL posting to their page. 

And do not think for a second that Ravens’ players have not said some downright idiotic things (thankfully, most of what I have seen – and saved – has been removed from the players page, having been missed by much of the media).  Yes, it seems the Twitter bug – for better or worse – has bitten the hometown team, too.

Everything from calling out coaches, to what hotty they are going to hook up with to obvious marijuana references, these athletes are simply not learning from past mistakes.

Look, I am no prude.  I have done my fair share of things that some would find questionable.  The difference between me and these players are: (1) my W2 is significantly smaller than theirs; and (2) I keep my mouth shut when I do things some might not agree with! 

I learned a lesson way back when that it’s much better to keep quiet and appear stupid than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Not all are bad, however.  This recent post from the Vikings DE, Jared Allen just might be my all-time favorite:

“The mullet was trimmed for the wedding but the Moolay is more than just some hair, it’s a lifestyle! You gotta keep a positive Mullitude..."