It is not uncommon for football coaches to enact a social media shutdown for football players during a college football season. It is, however, a rarity to see that policy ruled “unlawful” by the National Labor Relations Board. Ahh, the times in which we live.
The NLRB ruled Northwestern University must overturn rules within the football program prohibiting players from being able to use social media outlets such as Twitter. Because the ruling considers football players employees of the university, the players must be allowed to freely express themselves in the public eye in any way they choose on social media platforms. The ruling will also force Northwestern to make players available to discuss health and safety issues and speak with the media.
And it’s not just Northwestern that must adhere to this ruling. The same applies to 17 private universities playing at the FBS level, including Notre Dame, Baylor, and Stanford. That means a school no longer may ban players from posting tweets or speaking with the media. What this all boils down to is private universities that have managed their student-athletes and restricted them as if they are employees may no longer be able to manage them as a company would its employees.
There will still be rules to abide by for players of course, but the power a coach and program will have over their off-field lives is now being revoked, if not simply just limited.
From a media standpoint, more access to players can be nice. It may be a larger headache for the sports information directors and coaches, but then again, those are the people actually being paid for their work.
[ESPN]
