Ten years ago, Lavonte David had a public meltdown on Twitter when the Bucs fired head coach Lovie Smith.
That’s right. Mild-mannered David lost it lashing out after Smith was launched following the Bucs finishing 6-10 in 2015 — after starting 6-6.
“WTF YO!!!! … This is stupid, we can’t even have a consistent coach, 3 coaches in 5 yrs … Outside looking in, y’all wouldn’t understand how great of a coach/person he is … I guess yall got what you been asking for smh,” David Tweeted.
Speaking on the The Set with T. Sted podcast last week, David said that Tweet, which quickly was deleted, prompted him to get off Twitter and largely disappear from social media for much of his career.
That low profile, David explained, may have cost him postseason honors.
“Once I got to the league people around me was like, ‘You need to get on social media, this Twitter thing. You can interact with people and stuff like that make you more popular so people can see who you are,” David explained. “That’s one thing I do kind of regret, though. I wish I would have kept [Twitter]. Seeing how big social media is now, people buiding their brand.
“Me, I’m a private person, never put myself out there and stuff like that. But just thinking about it now, it may have helped me get a couple of Pro Bowls under my belt. But it’s all good now.”
Podcast host Terron Armstead, a four-time Pro Bowler with the Saints, agreed wholeheartedly with David that social media popular is tied to Pro Bowl honors. “Which is so dumb to me,” Armstead said. “So dumb. That’s the world we live in.”
Interesting take by David, who admitted years ago he avoided Hard Knocks cameras when the Bucs were featured on the HBO series in 2017.
If David ever becomes a Hall of Fame class finalist, which means his case to selectors would be made live via Ira Kaufman or another Hall panelist, this social media angle would have to be worth mentioning. It’s at least plausible that David keeping to himself helped cost him honors selectors value when they vote.