With as many bad headlines as it continues to make, one has to wonder: When will the NFL take a stronger stance on social media, specifically Twitter?

No, I'm serious.

Last Sunday, after a loss to the equally woeful Kansas City Chiefs dropped the Minnesota Vikings to 0-4 on the season, Vikings wide receiver Bernard Berrian took to Twitter and let his frustration get the best of him. According to Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the eight-year pro, in his fourth mostly uninspiring season with the Vikings, responded to a supportive tweet from a fan suggesting he was open "at least five times," by tweeting, "been like that the last 4 years."

It's a pretty vanilla statement, but it's also where things got dicey. The comment from Berrian prompted Minnesota state legislator Rep. John Kriesel, who happens to be the co-sponsor of a bill attempting to get the Vikings a new stadium, to tweet, "If you want to follow a hilarious Twitter account, try @B_Twice who says that he's open a lot and should get the ball more."

@B_Twice, of course, is Berrian ... and guess what? He didn't take kindly to the jab.

"Anytime u wanna watch the film with me. Not just one game but all of them. ... and if not sit down n shut up!!" Berrian fired off in less than 140 characters.

The problem: Kriesel, along with being the co-sponsor of the Vikings new stadium bill, is an Iraq war veteran who lost both legs in combat. Berrian was unaware of this important truth.

Awkward, to say the least.

The two men have since apologized to each other, with Kriesel admitting he started the ridiculousness. "I can handle myself. I ripped him, he ripped me back. I have fun with Twitter. I'm over it. I was never offended by it," Kriesel told the Star Tribune.

And he's right. Berrian, while guilty of being caught in the heat of the moment, used Twitter the way almost everyone does - how it was designed.

He reacted, instantly.

What harm was done? Probably none. Kriesel will still co-sponsor the Vikings new stadium bill. The NFL is still the biggest game in the land. And Berrian still has two receptions on the season.

It's just that, usually, the NFL and its 31 millionaire team owners (the Green Bay Packers are publically owned) like to have more control over their investments. While everyone seems to agree social media and Twitter "created important new ways for the NFL and clubs to communicate and connect with fans," as the league said in 2009 when announcing its current social media policy, which only forbids players from using social media from 90 minutes before kickoff until the conclusion of traditional media interviews after the game, headlines like, Minnesota Viking Tells Iraq War Veteran and Amputee to ‘Sit Down n Shut Up' probably give some folks in the league cause for concern. How could they not?

Berrian's Twitter slip-up is only the most recent example of a growing trend. Perhaps the most well known example of an athlete-meets-Twitter PR nightmare was Rashard Mendenhall's Twitter-ized questioning of the American reaction to Osama bin Laden's death back in May. The team is still forced to take security precautions on the running back's behalf. God knows how the jersey sales have suffered. Mendenhall himself lost an endorsement deal with Champion over the fiasco.

For better or worse, though, in the very spirit that makes the Internet a place of exciting and limitless possibility and at the same time a cesspool of anonymously vile humanity, social media and most forms of web expression have (so far) been classified as an undeniable freedom, even in the high-stakes economy of the NFL. The communications revolution has made social media a professional football player's right.

Will that ever change? Will the bad headlines pile up? Will owners eventually look to limit their potential social media damages? In a world where Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson can tell his new franchise quarterback, Cam Newton, not to get tattoos, are we sure such restrictions are impossibilities? Are we sure a professional athlete's ability to "communicate and connect with fans" is all it's cracked up to be?

I don't know the answers to those questions. What I do know is we've created a landscape where an employee earning $1.9 million dollars this year from a company (the Vikings) Forbes Magazine estimates to be worth $796 million can publically tell an Iraq war veteran who lost his legs in battle to "sit down n shut up," without any sort of repercussions ... other than embarrassment for all parties involved.

Perhaps that's as it should be. It's just that usually the guys with all the money like to have tighter control than that. Let's see what happens.

BOX SCORES

Those who needed further proof musicians and professional entertainers have no business discussing politics got it this week when Hank Williams Jr. appeared on the Fox News' "Fox and Friends" to share his disdain for President Barrack Obama. As you've no doubt heard by now, Williams compared Obama to Hitler and referred to the Commander in Chief and Vice President Joe Biden as "the enemy." In reaction, ESPN pulled Williams' "All My Rowdy Friends" theme song from its telecast of Monday Night Football. On Tuesday, Williams kinda-sorta apologized, classifying himself as "misunderstood." Those who've heard the sound bite likely agree, perhaps best described as incoherent bearded backwoods rambling at its finest. ... German automaker Mercedes-Benz purchased the naming rights of the New Orleans Superdome this week, home to the NFL's Saints. The deal marks a major step for a venue perhaps best known as a battered harbor of refugees during Hurricane Katrina. Following his own historical precedent, former President Bush is said to be completely ignoring anything happening at the Superdome.  ... NBA Commissioner David Stern and deputy commissioner Adam Silver announced Tuesday that the remainder of the NBA preseason has officially been cancelled because of the ongoing lockout, and if no labor agreement is reached by Monday the first two weeks of the season will be axed as well. The good news is the NBA season is AT LEAST two weeks too long. ... Finally, the Major League Baseball postseason kicked off last weekend ... which you would have noticed if you weren't too busy watching football.