No more tweets from the NFL? - Ingles

Hey, as long as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is making up rules on the fly - like suspending Terrelle Pryor for five games because he would have been suspended that long at Ohio State - maybe he should consider suspending the use of Twitter and other forms of social media by players.

The beauty of Twitter is that it allows athletes a direct, unfiltered connection with fans.

The danger of Twitter is that it allows athletes a direct, unfiltered connection with fans.

And there seems to be no end to the dumb things athletes can convey in 140 characters or less.

- Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett tweeted Wednesday that he nearly pulled a Gilbert Arenas by nearly going to the Cardinals facility with a handgun before realizing that his book bag was a little heavy.

He referred to the handgun in the bag as his "rocket" and also referred to the nickel-plated Glock as "Big Pookey."

For good measure, Dockett added, "The gun laws in Az are super cool! I can damn near have a Grenade launcher on the seat (as) long as it's registered I'm good. Lol nice."

Beautiful timing given that an NBA player, Javaris Crittenton who got into the locker-room altercation with Arenas that involved hand guns, now is facing charges in Georgia for allegedly shooting to death the mother of four young children.

- Titans running back Chris Johnson, who came to an agreement on a new contract Thursday, reacted earlier in the week to fans who accused him of greed by tweeting "Can these fake Titan fans STFU (shut the expletive up) on my timeline. I don't have a regular job so don't compare me to you and I can care less if uthink I'm greedy."

He then added, "Luv the real fans."

Sure you do, Chris.

- On Wednesday, Texans running back Arian Foster, who is nursing a twingy hamstring, tweeted out a photo of his MRI. And last week, Foster tweeted: "4 those sincerely concerned, I'm doing ok & plan 2 B back by opening day. 4 those worried (about) your fantasy team, u ppl are sick."

Foster probably ought to know that the only fans outside his family who are "sincerely concerned" about his health probably are fantasy-league people given that the Fantasy Sports Trade Association estimates 32 million Americans participate.

It's also safe to assume a fair number of those "sick ppl" buy jerseys, caps and tickets to games. This article was written by Bob Young and appeared in The Arizona Republic.