Grievance

Turns out twitter has claimed its first victim.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — David Clowney might think twice before tweeting from now on.

The New York Jets' speedy wide receiver was benched by an angry coach Rex Ryan for the team's game against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday after Clowney complained on Twitter about a lack of playing time.

"I was upset with him, yep," Ryan said Monday. "For a couple of reasons. One of them is you'll hear things if a guy's unhappy or whatever. I'm not a big Twitter guy, but you hear different things. To me, this is about our team and understanding this is about our team. No individual is bigger than the team."

A few hours after the Jets beat New England 16-9 last Sunday, Clowney tweeted: "1 play in the 1st Half, 4 plays in the 2nd half ... A bit disappointed about my playing time but very happy and satisfied about the win."

Clowney added in a subsequent tweet that, "My team always comes first so I'ma just keep grinding."

Honestly I don't see anything wrong with what the guy tweeted. If I have a guy on my team who is happy riding the bench then we are going to have a problem. In both tweets he said regardless of his dissappointment he was happy with the win though. In fact I think his answer was about pitch perfect when it comes down to it. He didn't blame anyone for his playing time. He didn't say the coaches don't like him or he "deserved" more playing time. He just said he would have liked to have played more. I will bet you dollars to donuts that Coach Ryan didn't even read what the kid tweeted and just assumed he came with some TO mess. This was overkill if you ask me and what you are going to end up seeing is that sooner or later if this continues the NFLPA will have to step in and file a grievance. There is no team policy that you can't twitter and if there isn't guys have a right to free speech. Benching a guy hurts his reputation and his ability to make plays which is how NFL players get paid in their next contract.

I can't remember a time that a guy was benched because of such innocuous comments in any interview on TV or in print so its obvious that this is largely just a shot at those players using twitter in general. If the NFL wants to ban twittering altogether then they should do that, or at least attempt to. But bullying a guy trying to make an example is a buncha bullshit if you ask me.