http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centreda ... 650742.htm
Auburn players on MySpace.com
BY CHRISTA TURNER
Staff Writer
Players we mainly know on the football field open up @myspace.com
Auburn's David Irons is the best cornerback in the nation, and he's a shoo-in to win the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back.
At least, according to a Web page.
David Irons' Web page.
Irons tells every receiver he covers that he thinks he's the best, so why should he be shy about letting the entire country see it through a personalized page on the latest Internet craze, Myspace.com?
Myspace.com touts itself as a social networking site, a place to meet new friends and stay in touch with current ones. The site boasts more than 40 million users, letting them create a profile of themselves, as well as post a blog or send an instant message.
Irons' Myspace.com page features pictures of himself -- on the football field, with friends, and with his younger brother, star running back Kenny. There are photo slideshows and video clips of him playing for the Tigers. Auburn fans leave well wishes under the comments section.
He's not the only Auburn player with a page. Kenny Irons' page shows off his biggest interest away from football -- souped-up vehicles. He has football pictures, too.
"It talks about me and football," Kenny Irons said. "My page is cool. It's got cars and this big truck I want -- a Ford 650."
Other Auburn players have Myspace pages.
Courtney Taylor's proclaims him to be the best wide receiver in the nation. The profiles of Robert Dunn, Lorenzo Ferguson, Brandon Cox, Lee Guess and Karibi Dede are more low-key.
Backup quarterback Blake Field and safety Tristan Davis have pages, but they've restricted access to who can view their profiles.
Auburn football players aren't the only ones jumping into this latest phenomenon. Alabama linebacker Juwan Simpson has a Myspace page, as does Georgia cornerback Asher Allen. Georgia fullback Brennan Southerland said he prefers Facebook, a site geared specifically to college students.
These football players are no different from millions of others, particularly in the 14-25 age range, who join sites like Myspace and Facebook. Myspace.com is open to anyone at least 14 years old with an e-mail account. Facebook.com was limited to users with a college-generated e-mail address, but recently opened up the site to those who don't have a school e-mail address.
The Internet sites are about self-expression -- in an extremely public way. While the sites enable students to keep in touch with their friends, they can also mean trouble, especially for college athletes who already have a high-profile.
Public scrutiny
When the Web site Badjocks.com pulled pictures from Webshots.com of athletes at various universities engaged in hazing and underage drinking, the fallout hit sites like Myspace and Facebook. The most well-publicized incident involved female soccer players at Northwestern University, who had posted pictures showing hazing, which is not allowed by university rules, as well as drinking and the simulation of sexual acts.
Additionally, several sexual assault cases have been linked to predators finding victims on Myspace. The site restricts users from posting information like telephone numbers and addresses, as well as sexual, obscene or harassing photographs. However, it's difficult to enforce those rules.
Facebook, which restricted its access, hasn't had the well-publicized problems of Myspace, but all the public incidents have led to many schools restricting what their athletes can do on either site.
It became a hot topic at preseason media days for the Southeastern Conference. Most coaches said they have policies to deal with the two Web sites, and players said coaches have warned them about it.
"They just said, 'Don't do anything stupid, because you're putting it up for everyone,' " Vanderbilt linebacker Jonathan Goff said.
Said Kenny Irons, "They talk about it in meetings. They say what you put on the page is the perception of what people think of you. You don't want nothing there of you drinking or smoking. You're an athlete and represent Auburn University and the football team and yourself."
For coaches, it's yet another thing to worry about.
"We try to talk to our guys about being smart," Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said. "It's for their safety and benefit -- not just to keep negative things about Vandy off the Internet. There's no telling who's looking at that stuff and doing stuff with that."
Alabama coach Mike Shula agreed, saying, "Unfortunately, not everyone is looking out for your best interests as a football player or a young person. The best thing I know is to confront it, address it, talk about it -- the good, the bad."
Shula said that players at Alabama are monitored, as well as players the Tide is recruiting.
Georgia coach Mark Richt has his graduate assistants monitor the pages of his football players.
Auburn used an athlete advisory committee to devise a policy regarding those kind of Web sites, said Meredith Jenkins, senior associate athletic director. Coaches of individual sports also held meetings with their respective teams to discuss it.
Auburn coaches pointed out that potential employers now search the sites and that players should beware of possible stalkers as well as runners for agents. Auburn's players are monitored as well and reports are sent to coaches when warranted.
"We just want to make them aware they need to be careful," Jenkins said.
Generation gap?
Many coaches don't understand why their players are so into these sites. The players call it a generation gap.
"I don't see the attraction, but I'm older than they are," Vanderbilt's Johnson said. "I don't see the attraction of putting yourself out there for the whole world to see and take advantage of. It's scary to me."
Auburn wide receiver Courtney Taylor said he and his fellow teammates typically do it to stay in contact with friends, as well as people they graduated with.
"That's what I like about it," Taylor said. "I keep in contact with all those people I never see except once a year. It's a different age. This is a new age -- we got the Internet, we got technology."
The players are also accessible to their school's fans, with great numbers of team supporters leaving messages of encouragement under the players' comments sections. Most players have large numbers of "friends," many of them simply fans.
Fans and friends alike left Georgia's Prince Miller numerous comments about a blocked kick he had for the Bulldogs. Auburn's players had tons of comments following a strong win over LSU.
Facebook was limited to people with e-mail addresses generated by colleges, which kept out many underage people, but that has changed since Facebook recently opened to high schoolers and others without school e-mail addresses.
"I personally like Facebook because it helps me keep in touch with tons of my high school friends that are at different colleges," Southerland said. "I can just send them a message every couple of weeks or whatever."
Southerland said he posts pictures to show his friends what he's up to and he enjoys seeing pictures of his friends, but he knows to be cautious.
"You've got to be careful because whereas that's what I'm using it for, other people are using it to get into your privacy or something like that," Southerland said.
Right to speech
As teams monitor the sites, some people wonder if that violates the student athlete's right to free speech.
"Everybody is working through that right now," Jenkins said. "Right now, if there are any penalties, it's being held within a team atmosphere. We just basically warn them about outcomes, from stalkers on down. There's a lot of discussion nationwide. As we move forward, we'll continue to look at it. It's an interesting issue."
Most athletes sign a code of conduct pledge which gives their schools the right -- for the most part -- to keep an eye on them in such a manner.
Allison Neal, a law fellow with the American Civil Liberties Union in Alabama, said schools for the most part are within their rights to have some restrictions.
However, the wording of Auburn's policy, which Neal reviewed, could be problematic.
The document suggests the following guidelines:
• Do not post any pictures suggesting illegal or unbecoming behaviors (like underage drinking and explicit photos).
• Do not accept friend invitations from anonymous individuals.
• Activate privacy settings to allow only friends to see profiles.
• Do not post any personal information.
Neal said the problem lies in the use of the words "unbecoming."
"There is nothing wrong with saying illegal, but 'unbecoming' opens up problems with its vagueness," she said. "If something is deemed unbecoming that is free speech, that would be a problem. A school might think it unbecoming to identify with a certain political party. That could be problematic."
For administrators, the goal is to educate the players regarding how they're viewed by the public.
"As student-athletes, they have to understand accountability and that they're not just regular students," Jenkins said. "It's a privilege to be on scholarship. They're always in the public eye and they can't just turn it on and off. They can't post something and think it will disappear the next day. It's freedom of information, but they have to understand who they are as well."