During the official debut of The T.Ocho Show on Tuesday, Bengals receiver Terrell Owens admitted that he violated the league’s social media policy by posting an entry on Twitter within 90 minutes prior to kickoff of Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers.
“I posted a tweet and the tweet was for the person who donated the most money [for a charity benefiting imprisoned mothers in Kenya] would receive a football signed by me or Chad,” Owens said, via Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I left the house a little late and left my phone so I had my assistant bring my phone to the stadium so I put the tweet out a little late. The guy who won the football, he sent us an e-mail and said he wanted us to donate the football to a little kid wearing my jersey at the stadium. So that was the reasoning behind it. Again, if I get fined for it, it’s cool. It’s not going to be the first thing that’s gone unappreciated for something noble or the charitable things that I’ve done.”
But it’s not a matter of a gesture going “unappreciated.” The NFL prohibits the use of social media within 90 minutes before a game. Owens broke that rule. There’s no “charitable” exception to the rule.
It would be nice if Owens would simply admit that he did something he shouldn’t have done without qualification or justification or excuse. Then again, the next time he does that will be the first time he does it.
