DAVIE — Vontae Davis has only been at this Twitter thing since late in his
rookie season, but the Dolphins' second-year cornerback has found a pretty
good barometer to let him know how he's doing.
"My grandmother even follows me," Davis says. "That's crazy right there. If
your grandmother follows you, you know it's a good thing."
Actually, Adeline Davis keeps tabs on her grandson via Davis' sister, who
has a Twitter account of her own. But the larger point remains: Unlike many
of his NFL contemporaries, Davis isn't going to "tweet" anything that might
prove embarrassing or leave him lighter in the wallet.
"I'm not going to go overboard," Davis says. "Your fans want to know what
you're doing, but I don't do too much. I respect my coach. And I'm not going
to put anything on there that my grandmother won't want to see."
Davis is one of more than a dozen current Dolphins players with legitimate
Twitter accounts, which might be somewhat surprising in light of the secrecy
mandated by the organization's football side.
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Then again, it's not like anyone is using those 140-character messages to
reveal any state secrets.
It's rare that any Dolphins player makes news of any sort on Twitter, as
Ricky Williams did Monday afternoon with a string of eight "tweets" that
asked fans to refrain from shouting questions or booing during open
practices.
The Dolphins have no official policy on Twitter and other social media. They
just ask players to use their best judgment and refrain from either putting
the team at a competitive disadvantage or using potentially embarrassing
language.
Kevin Sullivan, the former White House communications director under
President George W. Bush, spoke to the Dolphins players recently about
dealing with the media and drove home those points.
With 17,609 followers as of Tuesday, Williams (@RickyWilliams) is easily the
most popular Dolphin when it comes to this aspect of social media. The star
running back used Twitter this summer to invite strangers to the meditation
sessions he conducted at Nova Southeastern University, and his frequent
plugs for coconut water have drawn attention.
"I definitely like Ricky Williams' tweets," Dolphins cornerback Sean Smith
says. "He puts a lot of positive messages out there. You see him
interacting. Fans are always talking to him. I always keep an eye out for
what he has to say."
