Extra Mustard study: Russell Wilson should tweet less before games
Russell Wilson loves to tweet.
During the 2014 NFL season, Wilson tweeted over 400 times. Since 2013, he’s regularly tweeted “1–0” before each game, telling his 1.34 million followers that he’s confident his Seahawks will win that week's contest
On Sunday, Wilson's “1–0” tweet got him into trouble with the Rams when Seattle lost to St. Louis, and he had to explain why the team’s record was not actually 1–0.
It got us to thinking—would it be a good idea for Russell Wilson to tweet less?
After an exhaustive Extra Mustard study into Wilson’s 2014 season, that seems to be the case.
| < 3.6 tweets/day | > 3.6 tweets/day |
Games | 10 | 6 |
Completions | 190 | 95 |
Attempts | 286 | 166 |
Pass Yds | 2328 | 1147 |
Rush Yds | 702 | 147 |
Pass TD | 17 | 3 |
Rush TD | 5 | 1 |
INT | 3 | 4 |
Comp % | 66.4 | 57.2 |
Passer Rating | 106.8 | 74.5 |
The data was measured in the days between Seahwaks games. For the team’s bye week, only the seven days prior to their game counted on Wilson’s ledger.
In between games, Wilson tweeted more than 20 times all but once. In weeks he limited his average use to under 3.6 tweets per day, he performed quite well.
What was astounding was Wilson’s struggles in weeks he was spending a lot of time tweeting. He threw four interceptions in just six games when he tweeted more often. His worst game of the season came in Week 6, when he tweeted 24 times in a six-day period, and managed just 138 total yards.
In Week 1 of the 2015 season, Russ tweeted just 14 times. The Seahawks lost, but Wilson completed 32 of 41 passes for 251 yards.
We may have found a cutoff point for Russell Wilson. No more than 3.6 tweets per day, or you will play poorly.
He should spend less time on the web and more time drinking recovery water.
Note: While this is a small sample size it’s abundantly clear that Russell Wilson’s tweeting must slow to an acceptable pace. It’s just like football, you can’t always throw the ball. Sometimes you need to hand it off.
