The NFL players are thankful to the fans for standing by them, and to show their gratitude, members of the soon-to-be recertified NFL Players Association have once again engaged in social media. This time, with YouTube. Yes, social media extends beyond Facebook, G+, and Twitter. The video is a thank you note from some of the more recognizable faces in the NFL.

Players like Jason Witten of the Dallas Cowboys and Takeo Spikes, who honestly looks like he could double as a Terminator. The video is just another example of the long line of social media interaction NFL Players turned to during the lockout and its resolution. While it should be noted the players are not the ones who held the nation hostage — the owners are solely responsible for the lockout taking place — at least they understand just how valuable fans are to the success of the game.

Without full stadiums and even more people watching at home, those billions of dollars both sides were fighting over wouldn’t be nearly as much. Again, this is just another example of how effective social media can be from a public relations point of view. Sure, there were obviously some production dollars spent developing the 2:22 video, but this method is much easier than individual and/or group press conferences that require a number of players to be in the same place at the same time. The YouTube method, to put it simply, much simpler in terms of logistics.

The NFLPA’s Twitter announced the video’s launch, and there’s a link to the ProPlayerInsiders blog which offers more details about the video:

The blog entry, another example of the social media engagement, has a list of all the players who contributed, which follows:

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Gary Brackett, Atlanta Falcons linebacker Coy Wire, St. Louis Rams offensive tackle Adam Goldberg, New Orleans Saints offensive tackle Jon Stinchcomb, Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould, Buffalo Bills safety George Wilson, Detroit Lions safety Erik Coleman and free agent offensive tackle Tyson Clabo.

There’s also nods to the aforementioned Spikes, as well as Maurice Stovall of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rashean Mathis of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Andrew Whitworth of the Cincinnati Bengals. Another sure sign that football is indeed back, besides the glut of social media content, comes from Google Trends. Currently, it’s pretty much all football teams as fans are clearly rushing to Google in order to see what their favorite team is doing.