Chad Ochocinco: I'm Leaving Twitter

The NFL's strict "No tweeting during games" edict has claimed its first victim: The Twitter account belonging to Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco.

Ochocinco said Friday on his official Twitter account, @OGOchoCinco, that he has decided to stop using Twitter altogether, tweeting the following:

Due to the many rules the NFL has made I've found it difficult to enjoy Twitter and I'll be deleting my account :(
I thank and love you all for following, hope you enjoyed getting to know the real me: Esteban out

Ochocinco was apparently referring to a new NFL policy, implemented on Monday, that bans use of Twitter and other forms of social media from 90 minutes before each game through the conclusion of media interviews after each game. Ochocinco had previously said he would use Twitter during games and that the NFL couldn't stop him, but he has now apparently decided to bend to the whims of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Or maybe not.

Ochocinco is, above all else, a showman. He has almost 150,000 Twitter followers, and it's impossible to believe he would simply walk away from any forum that allows him to reach 150,000 people any time he wants. It's much more likely that Ochocinco is pulling a stunt to draw even more attention to his Twitter account, and that he'll be back and tweeting more than ever during the NFL season.

The real question is whether Ochocinco, who has been fined in the past for excessive touchdown celebrations, is willing to incur Goodell's wrath by tweeting in blantant disregard for NFL rules, or whether he'll confine his tweeting to what is permitted by the league. But one way or another, you can bet Ochocinco will be back on Twitter some time in 2009.