<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Amid the NFL's free agency frenzy, NFL players have taken to social media this week to break news of their fresh contracts and switches to new teams.\nWide receiver Pierre Garcon, for instance, announced via his Facebook Page on Tuesday that he would join the Washington Redskins after four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. In an interview before the post, Garcon said social networks give athletes new power to control narratives as they move from team to team.\n\"Social media is taking over,\" said Garcon, who has some 350,000 combined followers on Facebook and Twitter. \"It's a great opportunity for me to make the announcement and make sure the story is accurate and the facts are 100% correct by having it come from me directly.\" \nGarcon's announcement appears to be the first time a relatively high-profile professional athlete has used social media to say he's leaving his old team behind to join a new franchise. Players have previously used social media to announce contract extensions with current teams.  \nOther NFL free agents pulled similar moves after Garcon. Cornerback Richard Marshall announced a move from the Arizona Cardinals to Miami Dolphins with a tweet on Wednesday. Tight end Martellus Bennett broke news of his move from the Dallas Cowboys to a new team by tweeting, \"I'm officially a New York Giant!\", according to multiple reports. That tweet was soon deleted, but Bennett did sign with the team. A Giants spokesman told Mashable the team had no input on Bennett's decision to delete the tweet. \nPlayers have also used social media this week to let fans of their old teams down easy. In a video posted to his Facebook Page on Wednesday, cornerback Cortland Finnegan thanked Tennessee Titans fans for embracing him during his six seasons with the team. The video was posted shortly after he signed a contract with the St. Louis Rams.\n\"I want fans to be able to interact with me on a personal level,\" Finnegan told Mashable in an interview. \"Social media is just a great way for fans to be able to interact with players on a personal level and see the guy without the helmet on.\" \nJeff Weiner, who advises Garcon and Finnegan on leveraging social media, thinks major announcements coming via Facebook and Twitter is a trend sports teams, fans and reporters should prepare to get used to. \n\"The first thing fans hear, the first impression they get about a player's next move is going to come from what he says rather than what the media says,\" Weiner told Mashable. \"Reporters and mainstream media are going to have to continue to adapt to it and accept that they're not always going to be the ones breaking news, but breaking the news the athlete already broke.\"  \nDo you think it makes sense for pro athletes to use social media rather than traditional channels for big announcements? Let us know in the comments. \nBONUS GALLERY: The Secrets to NFL Stars' Facebook Success\nCheck out highlights from Mashable's December interview with Weiner on how NFL players can leverage Facebook.\n\n\n\nHow NFL Stars Become Facebook Stars Too\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWelcome Well\n\n\"Pretty much everyone who visits a page wants to go straight to the Wall,\" Weiner says. \"So you have to give them a reason on the Welcome tab -- something extra, like exclusive access -- that gives them an incentive to click the Like button first.\" \nHere, Woodley invites fans to connect by helping his Pro Bowl cause -- if they click the Like button.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWall-to-Wall Consistency\n\n\"The biggest key of all is consistency,\" Weiner says. \"It doesn't have to be five things per day or a video every single day, but it's important to get some sort of post up every day if possible. You want fans to know something is coming and be eager for what's next.\" \nHere, Royal posts regularly and invites discussion on a variety of subjects: meal time, hard news and sports rumors.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKeep \"Info\" to the Point\n\n\"People really don't want to be anywhere but the Wall,\" Weiner says. \"So it's better to just keep your Info tab short and sweet so that it doesn't distract, and since that's not really want people want anyway.\" \nHere, Harrison's Info tab provides all the basics but doesn't compete with or distract from the main show: his Wall..\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMake Fans Feel Special\n\n\"Don't just tell me you appreciate me as a fan, show me,\" Weiner says. \"Go direct, and make me feel appreciated with inside access and information.\"\nHere, Harrison clues his fans into details they would normally hear through the mainstream media.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPost While the Iron's Hot\n\n\"Don't be worried about the analytics of posting on a Tuesday at 3 p.m. versus posting on a Thursday at 6 p.m.,\" Weiner says. \"Just post when you think your audience is most likely to be excited about what you're talking about.\"\nWeiner also counsels clients to make an extra effort to post when messages will be most meaningful for fans, instead of most convenient for the player. Here -- while he could have waited to get home and set down his bags -- Royal shares from the team plane shortly after a game, while fans' adrenaline is still pumping.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCommunity-Building Starts Early\n\nWhen Houston Texanas running back Ben Tate was coming out of college, other potential draft picks got more attention from ESPN and other media outlets. But Tate actively recruited Facebook fans at his alma mater, Auburn University, and by draft day had more Likes than superstar prospects Sam Bradford and Ndamukong Suh.\nClick to the next slide to see how Tate rewarded his loyal supporters on draft day.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLet Fans Join the Journey\nWhen the draft finally happened, Tate broadcast an all-day Ustream video from his house in Maryland. Weiner says some 20,000 fans tuned into. Tate also posted a five-minute video to Facebook showing him actually get selected, and the clip was later featured by Sports on Facebook.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDon't Be Afraid To Be Yourself\n\n\"Football players play with their helmets on all the time, so fans don't get to see what they're really like during games,\" Weiner says. \"So provide opportunities for people to see who you really are and don't think you have to act a certain way. If you're humble, funny, even goofy, fans love that and it's really powerful.\"\nHere, Smith isn't too shy to share his excitement about going up against childhood idol Randy Moss on an NFL field. He captions the self-shot photo: \"Glad i kept this moss jersey from my HS days.. may have to get this thing signed when we play minnesota this yr.. LOL.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThumbnail image via Pierre Garcon's Facebook Page"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/03/16/nfl-free-agents-social-media/>