Sports Figures in 2020 Working With

Some athletes have no problem expressing themselves with a picture. Others have the wit to achieve controversy or attention with a string of 140 characters.

Twitter has opened up the possibility of the fan and athlete connecting in short bursts to grow their brand and popularity.

• Ring in the New Year with Blue Bell: Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson tweeted from his personal account (@AdrianPeterson ) his New Year’s celebration from a hospital bed. He was hospitalized recovering from knee surgery. Peterson sustained the injury against the Washington Redskins on Dec. 24, 2011. While on his bed recuperating, Peterson tweeted a photo of himself holding a pint of Blue Bell Ice Cream. Peterson has returned to have a great 2012 season and keep his Vikings in the playoff hunt.
• Driving while Tweeting: Something that I certainly would never suggest a driver do, Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) tweeted while driving during the 2012 Daytona 500. It must have helped him as he went on to win the 2012 Sprint Cup series as the best racer in the circuit. Keselowski gained over 100,000 within the first two hours of that tweet. With that moment, he catapulted in popularity. Now, with social media and track cred, Keselowski his on his way to breakthrough to become the next great NASCAR star.
• Love in the shower: In 2011, Minnesota Timberwolves F/C Kevin Love appeared in an advertising campaign for Right Guard body wash in a shower. However, in 2012, teammate Wayne Ellington (@WayneElli22) tweeted a photo of Love in a chamber receiving cryotherapy treatment in Dallas. With a sea of mist underneath Love’s head, seems that Love has become comfortable with being around mist in public. Cryotherapy treatment has a similar effect to ice baths, relaxing the player’s body and allowing for faster recuperation from the grind of a long NBA season.
• Not able to outdo his ex-wife: Kris Humphries (@KrisHumphries) certainly is no stranger to the world of Twitter. His soon-to-be ex-wife, Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian), is one of the most followed people on Twitter. After getting assaulted by Rajon Rondo on November 29, Humphries tweeted his scratches from the locker room. Asking fans to help him find a location in Boston to get a Tetanus shot, Humphries was ridiculed by Jason Terry. Terry, a current Celtic and former Humphries’ teammates with the Dallas Mavericks, told the media that Humphries is “soft.”
• Chiefs fans overrun the tribe: A simple Twitter direct message from the Kansas City Chiefs (@kcchiefs) to one of their fans, Travis Wright (@teedubya), helped ignite a fan revolt during the 2012 season. Though Wright started the firestorm with a profanity-laced tweet, it helped ignite the Chiefs’ fan base to rally to start a social media movement. One of the fastest-growing Twitter handles is Save Our Chiefs (@SaveOurChiefs). The organizers have rallied to try to run the coaching staff and management out of town with 80,000 followers. The people behind Save Our Chiefs even comforted Chiefs fans on Twitter after the murder-suicide involving LB Jovan Belcher. Aside from twitter, instagram is also a good platform where you can be up to date with the hottest news about sports and celebrity. Knowing how to buy instagram followers is a good action to take.