From Yahoo! Sports and Fox Sports
Last year there were 254 collegiate athletes selected in the 2013 NFL Draft. After their college season ends, some players are invited to participate in front of NFL scouts at combines and camp workouts. For under the radar players trying to make their way into the NFL, players have started using social media sources such as Youtube to gain the attention of scouts. Rather than work out for scouts in person, displaying their overall skills, players have started using Youtube to market a particular skill. Youtube has developed a way for players to go from being completely unknown to Youtube celebrities in a span of a few weeks. Youtube is one of the most popular websites on the Internet, reaching over one billion users a month and it is a great spotlight for unknown players to get their name out to NFL scouts.
Essentially these players are relying on Youtube users to view their video until it becomes popular enough to be seen by NFL teams. Alex Tanney had just finished his senior season at Monmouth, a Division III school, and was not invited to the NFL combine or expected to be drafted by any teams. Tanney, along with a few friends, made a five minute video composed of the D-III quarterback making spectacular trick shots. After quickly becoming Youtube famous with now over 3 million views, the video made it around the league and Tanney was invited to attend the rookie minicamps of multiple teams. Norwegian player, Harvard Rugland, put together an impressive enough kicking video to convince NFL scouts to invite someone for a tryout who had never even played a real football game in their life. Youtube has presented low profile players with a way to make NFL teams more interested in them in a matter of a few minutes than they were throughout their entire season.
---
Analysis by Cody Fazenbaker in SRM 334 (section 2)
Havard Rugland, a 28-year old from Norway, has recently become an internet sensation with a video he posted on YouTube. Having never played a game of football before, he was able to catch the attention of NFL scouts and coaches in a video displaying a wide variety of kicking skills that Rugland possesses. After seeing the video, the Detroit Lions contacted Rugland and offered him a try-out.
From a media and communications standpoint, this was a very smart and successful move from Rugland. He had never played football before and knows nearly nothing about the rules and yet was contacted by multiple NFL teams. Without using social media like YouTube, his skills and ability would have gone unnoticed. By placing the video online, it was able to spread quickly to millions of people. As the 4-minute video gained popularity, it started to reach members of different NFL teams who immediately took an interest in Rugland. The media also became aware of the video, and Rugland earned himself an interview on Good Morning America and a long article in the New York Times.Without the use of YouTube and other social media sites, Havard Rugland would not be who he is today. He would not have had these opportunities presented to him. This article is relevant to this Sports Media course because Havard used the media to get exposure and become recognized globally. In this digital era, he was able to use technology to his advantage and become successful. If he wasn’t able to put this video online, it’s safe to say that not nearly this many people would recognize his name.
Havard Rugland, a 28-year old from Norway, has recently become an internet sensation with a video he posted on YouTube. Having never played a game of football before, he was able to catch the attention of NFL scouts and coaches in a video displaying a wide variety of kicking skills that Rugland possesses. After seeing the video, the Detroit Lions contacted Rugland and offered him a try-out.
From a media and communications standpoint, this was a very smart and successful move from Rugland. He had never played football before and knows nearly nothing about the rules and yet was contacted by multiple NFL teams. Without using social media like YouTube, his skills and ability would have gone unnoticed. By placing the video online, it was able to spread quickly to millions of people. As the 4-minute video gained popularity, it started to reach members of different NFL teams who immediately took an interest in Rugland. The media also became aware of the video, and Rugland earned himself an interview on Good Morning America and a long article in the New York Times.Without the use of YouTube and other social media sites, Havard Rugland would not be who he is today. He would not have had these opportunities presented to him. This article is relevant to this Sports Media course because Havard used the media to get exposure and become recognized globally. In this digital era, he was able to use technology to his advantage and become successful. If he wasn’t able to put this video online, it’s safe to say that not nearly this many people would recognize his name.
No comments:
Post a Comment