Twitter Spoiler Cut-Back Tipped For 2013 NFL Draft

While the 2012 NFL Draft was marred online by insider parties using Twitter to announce picks before television broadcasts could so so themselves, sources this week are making clear a new expected etiquette of those present at the event. The word being used this week by news officials is "speculation": before the NFL commissioner makes an announcement, mum's the word. Even so, hard-and-fast rules on this situation appear to be able to be bent, just so long as they're not broken.

It would appear that ESPN is at the tip of this year's reign-in of "early" news flashes, with several heads noting several different sides of the story this week. ESPN's Adam Schefter spoke with the Sherman Report about revealing key information on Twitter, saying that "run of the mill" picks will not be touched by him. Quarterback picks or "bold moves," as he put it, will have no restrictions – Twitter action will continue in that regard.

"Basically. During the second round, only one or two picks are headline worthy. If it is the headline of that day, and I'm fortunate enough to get that pick, I'm going to report it.

I am almost certain–not to put words in someone's mouth–that the NFL has to spoken to ESPN and ESPN has told me to be more selective about what I'm tweeting in advance. I am trying to be as considerate as possible and [not] tweet everything we're getting, but I am going to tweet the headline-making items." – Schefter

The actual dialog between Schefter, his boss Seth Markman, and possibly the NFL itself is not known – what he's made plain is the fact that someone higher up than Schefter would rather he didn't use Twitter to speak about any Draft picks at all – at least not until they're publicly available through the NFL's own channels. The difference between the NFL posting information, ESPN speaking this information on a television broadcast, and a Twitter post can be a matter of minutes – but sometimes that's a whole lot longer than one would expect – and a lot more important.

What's your opinion on the Twitter situation here with the NFL Draft? Are you a follower of those sources that find out picks before they're made official through the NFL itself? Let us know if you want to see picks first on Twitter, if you'd rather watch them on television, or if you want the NFL to speak directly to you with a telegram!