Tony Jefferson tells it like it is, and Twitter twerps need to hear it
Published: 12/21/2011 10:18 AM
Last Modified: 12/21/2011 10:18 AM
Honestly, I was going to ignore the great Oklahoma Twitter Controversy altogether. I figured writing about it only contributed to one of the silliest scapegoats in Sooner football history.
There is a lot to blame – a lot – for OU's miserable situation right now. Twitter is not one of them. That should go without saying. Or blogging.
But then Tony Jefferson came into the interview room after practice Tuesday night. He's one of the two main culprits in this whole fiasco, along with fellow Californian Kenny Stills.
Angry OU fans don't care for their 140-character attitudes. Don't like it all that Jefferson wasn't fired up about playing Iowa when the bowl matchups were announced (who would be?). Don't like it that Stills wasn't thrilled that practice got in the way of finals prep. Don't like it that the two tweeted as much.
Apparently, it's OK for folks to anonymously berate these kids on message boards or on their own Twitter accounts, but not for the kids to express themselves at a time in their 20-year-old lives when self-expression becomes a very big deal.
Well, Jefferson expressed himself again Tuesday night, only this time he didn't need Twitter to do so.
"It doesn't bother me," he said of the backlash. "I just think it's irrelevant for that to be a reason why (the team has underachieved). We're not tweeting during games, we're not tweeting before games…
"I just think they need somewhere to point a finger. There are stupid things to point fingers at…
"We're not doing anything wrong. (Bob Stoops) lets us know we're representing the university. We're not doing anything against the university. We're just on Twitter being normal college people. Compliance looks at our tweets every second. They laugh at us. We tweet them. It's fun…
"I'll tell you now, I'm a leader. I also have a sense of humor. That's not going to change. That's my personality. That often gets mixed up with being serious, being a leader. But I can also turn it on and be a leader."
Jefferson said the backlash wasn't going to affect his personality, or his tweeting. Thank goodness. I follow him and several of his teammates, mostly because it has become a job responsibility. I appreciate the times these guys step off the line and express themselves, honestly, about football or anything else.
Now, there have obviously been times players have stepped over that line. Jaz Reynolds last year, for instance, or Casey Walker after this season's Baylor loss. I don't confuse freedom of expression with total disregard.
But coming down on Jefferson, Stills or any other player simply because he's frustrated with something amid the most frustrating OU football season since Stoops arrived? And has the social media means to express that frustration? Really?
Fans have a right to be bitter about OU's 9-3 season. They have a right to criticize a lot that has gone on.
Aiming their arrows at Twitter, however, seems like time, and bitterness, wasted.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
