This one goes out to all you kids in high school and in college who want to move on. You want to move on to College? What about the NFL? Well guess what. You may have already wrecked your chances. The simplest way to put this is that you are being spied on. Everything you are doing is being watched. Your brand- the “Brand Of You” as I call it is being monitored and evaluated.
How many guys on the field every bight have already ruined their chances of making it on to college because of their online life?
Facebook? Yes. “But Facebook is for old people” according to Nortwestern Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald. You think you can have a private life on social media on Twitter? Of course not. Instagram? Nope. Everyone is watching. Snap Chat is private right? No. It in fact is not and you are being watched.
Regarding athletes the top guys are all equal when it comes right down to it.
“If all things are equal…one area where things are not equal is your social media behavior ,” offered Fitzgerald who beyond being Head Coach was named an All-American twice as a player where he won both the Bronko Nagurski and Chuck Bednarik Award.
He emphasized that recruits are naive to assume that they can block coaches and other prying eyes. Basically if a college wants to find you they will track your friends and then find you. It can be “guilt by association” and your social media footprint can and will wreck you.
“I’d rather have a 1 Day problem then a 4 year problem,” said Coach Fitzgerald.
If a position coach is looking at a recruit that a red flag has been raised on Fitzgerald is going to ask him why he is wasting his time and the Universities money. Basically if they even feel they need to investigate you at all it is too late. You are done; at least with that school.
“In my experience it’s typically not the young man himself but who he associates himself with,” concluded Coach.
So guys and gals what are you putting out there? What have you out in the past because those tracks may not be able to be covered. In this modern era you are almost not allowed to have an online life. So be careful- very careful. You are training so hard and trying to make it and yet many of you are shooting yourselves in the foot.
This has happened to scores of athletes we have covered trying to get to college and most of them were really good kids. Take that a step further and we have seen 3 1st or 2nd round draft picks fall all the way out of Football from the NW here because of this very thing.
Guys if there is one thing to learn from this it is obvious.
Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself.
