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***Update on this story: On August 4th the New York Times reported that it might not be just one team that is banning Twitter in the NFL:

The New York Times reports that many image-conscious NFL teams are now banning Twitter from all team functions, including team meetings and coaching sessions. This, along with previous league-wide rules in place for use of computers or PDA’s in any game-related setting, effectively bans the popular social networking site from all NFL functions. Green Bay and Miami, in particular, have issued harsh bans, not wanting players to inadvertently give away secrets or strategies to opposing teams or media in otherwise innocuous tweets. The Patriots, however, are still allowed to cheat in whatever way they see fit.

Last week it was rumored that Twitter would be banned from the White House. A few days later, the US Military announced that it may ban the use of Twitter and Facebook.

Now it's the Green Bay Packers who are jumping on the Twitter-banning bandwagon. Is the coach afraid they will be tweeting out secret plays?

I know as much about football as I do about rocket science, so it's hard to say if this new Twitter rule for the Packers is going to cause any major upheaval. What I do know is it is going to cost players money if they tweet during official functions.

The fine? A maximum of $1701 for every infraction. Who came up with that amount? Surely that's going to be a bookkeeping nightmare.

According to the Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, any Packer who uses Twitter while on the clock will be fined the maximum amount of $1,701.

Packers running back Ryan Grant posted about the new rule on his own Twitter account: "Expect tweets in the morning before we go to work, possibly around lunch time and at night once we done, I don't want the heavy fine..."

It will be interesting to see how many players try to sneak a tweet in when they are not supposed to. The fact that there is a time and date on every tweet might deter them if they would rather not have the fine imposed.

Green Bay Packers ban Twitter on the job: other NFL teams to follow suit?

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