Darnell Dockett Tweet Earns $5,000 Fine

Pro Football Talk is reporting that the NFL is investigating Darnell Dockett for an alleged violation of its Twitter policy. Dockett -- aka @ddockett -- posted this controversial message at 2:55 p.m on September 12:

While the content of the message probably fits with in the NFL's standards for public prayer, the timing of the Tweet was offensive. 

According to PFT:

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told us on Tuesday that the league is looking into the matter.  But, frankly, it should be an easy process.  Dockett posted the message on his verified account at 3:55 p.m. ET.  The game began at 4:15 p.m. ET.

The Tweet itself shows a 2:55 p.m. time stamp, which may (or may not) be different from the 3:55 p.m. noted in the report. The variance could (or may not) be accounted for by those mysterious time zones.

We can only hope the NFL has the resources and expertise to unravel this mystery and put and end to the hideous practice of "Tweeting Inside The Restricted Area".

Arizona sports fans will recall that former Phoenix Suns Tweeter, Amare Stoudemire, was also fined for tweeting at the wrong time, although that fine was later rescinded after it was revealed that it was a ghost Tweeter who posted the Tweet during the game.

Athletes should follow the example of Coyotes winger Paul Bissonnette, who only tweets about appropriate things and most importantly at the appropriate times.