With a little help from social media, Tony McDaniel is a Seahawk again.
The defensive tackle, who played for Seattle in 2013 and 2014, signed with the Seahawks on Tuesday less than a month before the 2016-17 season kicks off. He played for Tampa Bay last season and was a free agent searching for work until a Snapchat photo helped him land a gig with Seattle.
As ESPN details, McDaniel was standing in the security line last week at the Atlanta airport and posted a photo to his Snapchat account. David Canter, his agent, saw the picture and wondered where McDaniel was heading; the NFL veteran said he was going to Seattle to see family and friends.
That’s when Canter phoned up the Seahawks and organized a workout. From ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia:
“[Seahawks director of pro personnel] Dan Morgan and I got into a text message exchange,” Canter said. “I said to them last week, ‘Hey, Tony’s going to be in town. It’s a free workout. Worst-case scenario, you bring him in, he looks like crap, he stays home. You don’t even have to pay for a flight.’ ”
Eventually, in part because of a calf injury to nose tackle Sealver Siliga, the Seahawks agreed. McDaniel worked out for the team Monday and signed a contract, Canter said.
Canter then used Twitter to announce the news of McDaniel’s new deal.
Congratulations to #TeamDEC client @Tonymcdaniel78 on signing w/ @Seahawks. Might be1st ever NFL player to get contract BC of his @Snapchat
— DEC Management (@davidcanter) August 15, 2016
After inking the deal, McDaniel asked his Twitter followers to also follow him on Snapchat.
Tell everyone to follow me on snap!!! @davidcanter pic.twitter.com/VGqeHukOtO
— Big Amigo (@TonyMcDaniel78) August 15, 2016
While Snapchat certainly helped McDaniel in this case, we’ve also seen how the popular messaging app can cause some trouble for athletes, too.
