Story of Megan Pettine and the Cleveland Browns

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Who is Megan Pettine, and why has her tweet caught the NFL by storm?

She is the daughter of Mike Pettine, the recently hired Head Coach of the Cleveland Browns.  Our world, and consequently what we say, have become so jaded, that by many standards, it is a positively innocuous tweet.  Put different names to this father and daughter duo and to the organization he was interviewing with, and that tweet would've slipped into oblivion, just as quickly as she had tapped it out.  

But that's the rub, isn't it.  Good or bad, any NFL team is hardly likely to escape the attention of fans and the media, especially if there is something even a smidgen scandalous about any one of them.  My hope is that the Browns take a step back, and reflect on its brand vis-a-vis its target audience and the larger media.  They're not exactly hot stuff in that regard.  In fact, Forbes ranked the Browns 22nd among The Most Valuable NFL Teams in 2013.

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Mike Pettine was expecting it, so he didn't balk when the last question asked at his first news conference as Cleveland Browns head coach was about his 19-year-old daughter's unfortunate post on Twitter following his first interview. 

As Pettine talked, it became clear how social media and the Internet can make life difficult. 

After tweeting excitedly on Jan. 16 that her father would be going back for a second interview with the Browns, Megan Pettine added: "Its the browns.. But hey, still pretty cool!" 

The tweet was later deleted, and the account deactivated. 

Still, it didn't help the Browns' already battered image. 

Pettine said when the tweet went viral and was picked up by websites that follows the NFL, Megan called her father in tears. 

"She was mortified," Pettine said. "Called me hysterically crying one day after it happened." 

Pettine said a very long father-daughter chat followed. 

"She learned a very valuable lesson in the power of social media," he said. 

Pettine added that Megan's formative years were spent in Baltimore "where she was trained to not be a Browns fan." 

"So I hope that we can give her a little leniency that way," he said. 

As he spoke, it was evident how difficult the experience was for father and daughter, and how close they are. 

"She sent me a text this morning," Pettine said on the day of his hiring, "that I think would have made most fathers cry."

Reference: Pettine's daughter 'learned lesson'.

Social media is something we've known about, and participated in, for several years now.  From fomenting the Arab Spring revolution a couple of year ago, to raking Justin Bieber over the coals this week, social media is powerful indeed and we are just beginning, I'd say, to come to grips with it.

I love this little article from ESPN, above, because how we come to grips with that power can be a very personal, family matter.  My wife and I have a 15-year old daughter ourselves, and we hate for any young person to feel so upset like that.

But live and learn, eh.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD