Jocks That Rock on Product Tweets

Skateboarder Ryan Sheckler, who appears in Cuba in this shot, is No. 1 on Ad.ly's list of its top athlete clients who tweet product endorsements.

Image: Ryan Sheckler

If someone is really nuts about professional skateboarder Ryan Sheckler, chances are that fan is among the 1.8 million-plus who follow the athlete on Twitter. Which is good news for AOL.

What does AOL, a news website now led by Arianna Huffington, have to do with a guy who defies gravity by skateboarding for a living?

Well, Sheckler is at the top of a top 10 list of celebrity athletes who tweets for Ad.ly, a startup that connects celebrities with companies willing to pay for star endorsements made via Twitter and Facebook. And Sheckler happened to do an endorsement recently for AOL.

He’s not alone. Ad.ly, which also revealed its list of the most influential celebrities on Twitter overall during the fourth quarter of 2010 (Kim Kardashian—who Ad.ly says brings in more than $10,000 per tweet—as well as sister Khloe Kardashian and Snoop Dogg), has released a new list ranking its athlete clients who tweet.

Below are the names that have driven the largest number of Twitter followers to check out the brands they endorse, whether it be to brand websites, video, mobile apps, or more.

1. Ryan Sheckler: professional skateboarder—1,825,676 followers; recently tweeted for AOL.
2. Paul Pierce: Boston Celtics, NBA—1,818,226 followers; recently tweeted for Research in Motion’s BlackBerry.
3. Lamar Odom: LA Lakers, NBA—1,427,831 followers; recently tweeted for a GE/Reagan scholarship.
4. Apolo Anton Ohno: Olympic speedskater, USA—252,889 followers; recently tweeted for Coca-Cola.
5. Nick Swisher: New York Yankees, MLB—1,319,996 followers; recently tweeted for BBC America's Top Gear.
6. Jalen Rose: Phoenix Suns, Retired, NBA –- 296,382 followers; recently tweeted for BBC America's Top Gear.
7. Steven Jackson: St. Louis Rams, NFL —68,688 followers; recently tweeted for Microsoft.
8. Kirk Morrison: Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL—363,962 followers; recently tweeted for Microsoft.
9. Darnell Dockett: Arizona Cardinals, NFL—66,341 followers; recently tweeted for Fox.
10. Shaun Phillips: San Diego Chargers, NFL—424,864 followers; recently tweeted for Tabasco.

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