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The NFL's Schwartz Brothers are Changing How Pro Athletes Use Twitter

Offensive lineman Geoff and Mitchell Schwartz have turned their Twitter accounts into homes for deep analysis—and possible careers after football.
Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

When Geoff Schwartz first joined Twitter five years ago, he saw it as just something to do when he wasn't pushing people around as an NFL offensive lineman. In the years since, his account has become one of the most interesting football-related accounts to follow. Schwartz, a free agent just released by the Giants, dispenses information, jokes, and recipes, and also provides an informed look into the sometimes misunderstood X's and O's of the sport. The NFL discourse on Twitter is mostly ad-hoc gibberish and First Take-ish posturing, but Schwartz has offered a smart and entertaining counterpoint. When his brother Mitchell, an offensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns, started tweeting this month, it got better still. NFL Twitter is still mostly a mess, but the Schwartz brothers are open, honest, discerning, and a lot more fun to follow than most of the people that get paid for their NFL opinions.

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It's all a little disorienting, if only because most professional athletes save their candor for their post-playing days. The Schwartz brothers stand out by offering reasoned and thoughtful analysis of games and situations, but, their accounts are not just interesting because of what and how they tweet. Their accounts are also microcosms of how professional athletes use Twitter, and the benefits—and costs—it can bring. Each brother has a purpose for his account, and it's not just Something To Do.

Read More: There's Always Next Year, Cleveland Browns

"On Twitter, for the most part, it seems like people throw out generalities—for this postseason, like 'Hey Peyton Manning can't throw the ball anymore,'" Mitchell said. "Everyone can see he's not what he used to be throwing the ball. But I prefer to throw out there that I see the game differently than most people, especially being able to play, being able to find the little details that people can't see."

His brother, for his part, sees a long-term benefit to his account that goes beyond dispensing perspective on football's nuances. Geoff wants to enter broadcasting when he's done playing, and the 29-year-old is already six years into his career. He knows his words will never carry as much credibility as they do now.

When you work with your teammates to put together a fire tweet. — Photo by Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

"When you're playing is the best time to use your platform," he said. "Obviously when you're playing, people will listen to you and you have a better foot in the door than when you're not. And, secondly, I think that people strive for information and the way I do it I don't feel I give away secrets."

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Along with his social media platform, Geoff even started his own podcast in December—a rarity for an active professional athlete—and its first episode ran after the Giants' week 15 loss to the Panthers. Schwartz and his co-host, Duke Mayweather, his friend and an offensive line scout, discussed the conduct that got Odell Beckham Jr. suspended days earlier.

Though Mitchell says he has no extra professional motivation behind his account, this could be just the beginning for Geoff. His forays into tweeting and podcasting are, effectively, practice. When he retires, he has no intention of sitting around at home. He wants more work on television and doesn't turn down work because he wants to be sure he's ready when it's time to make that transition. "It's all just practice reps and I enjoy doing it," Geoff said. "When I'm done playing, whenever that is, three, four, five years from now I'm going right into something else so all I do now is just prepare myself for that day when I'm no longer playing."

There is some risk involved, and both brothers have had their issues with Twitter in the past. NFL teams aren't usually receptive to players speaking publicly in anything more than pro forma terms, and fans and critics can be unrelenting in difficult times, and in general. There is always the possibility, if not the certainty, of blowback. When Geoff was with the Minnesota Vikings in 2012, he felt that the club did not like him being on Twitter, though he never got an explanation. Perhaps coincidentally, it was his only year with the organization. "They just kind of passively-aggressively didn't like it," he said. "I don't know why. They didn't give me a reason. I was new to Twitter back then so I wasn't even giving the thoughts I share now. The Giants have always been great about it."

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When you are trying to remember something clever for later. — Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports.

That same year, during his rookie season, Mitchell decided that he had to get off Twitter. He did not play well at the outset of his career and felt burdened by the reactions sent his way. "I was already down on myself and hard on myself," he said, "and it just got frustrating seeing all these random people saying bad things about me. I thought it was the best for my mental health at the time, you could say, to kind of rid myself of the situation."

But both are now rightly comfortable with social media. Mitchell's feed reads like a chalkboard analysis. He breaks down games as they happen and adds an insight to offensive line play that's not readily available elsewhere in the football conversation. He's not unwilling to be critical.

Geoff is more gregarious and prone to jokes. He's more likely to throw in emojis and sarcasm and share about his personal life, though he'll sometimes check with his wife to see if he should. His analysis is less technical than Mitchell's but no less proficient. On his podcast, he talks about offensive line play and teaches a new term each week. Neither is above satirizing their fellow professional athletes. Both lampoon the typical "#RiseAndGrind" tweet.

"I think it's ridiculous when other athletes post 'Rise and grind in my workout, 7 a.m.'," Geoff said. "No one cares. People have regular jobs. I think it's ridiculous that athletes think they're so special that they work out for two hours a day. I've always mocked that."

Eventually, the Schwartz brothers will even address themselves, to a degree. Both have avoided revealing team-specific strategy and Mitchell is especially guarded in discussing his future. He will be a free agent this offseason and likely a coveted one after being named second team All-Pro at right tackle by Pro Football Focus. He says that he will avoid tweeting about his free agency, which is a different approach than Geoff took back in 2013, when he personally broke the news himself that he was signing with the Chiefs in 2013.

"I think I'm not giving anything away that's really specific or a game-plan," Mitchell said. "I'm not talking about my contract situation at all. I see that as very private and only business." But Geoff says Mitchell will be a guest on his podcast as free agency nears to discuss the process ahead. After the Giants released him following an injury-plagued year, Geoff will have his own free agency to discuss as well.

For now he'll continue to keep some things close to the vest. But when he does retire, Geoff thinks he'll be even more freewheeling. "My Twitter is going to be so much better when I'm done playing," he said. "I write a lot of tweets and delete them because it's just not worth it."