Gail Sideman is a publicist that specializes in generating exposure for sports and authors. She is @PUBLISIDE on Twitter and can be found on Facebook.

Players in the NFL, if not the league, have embraced Twitter moreso than athletes in any other sport. There are over 150 NFL players on Twitter, and most of those players have remained fairly active. Recommending just twenty, must-follow gridiron stars from that talented and tweet-happy pool of NFL players was certainly no easy task.

Most of these guys eat, breath and sleep football, whether it’s about their own club, or the university for which they played before advancing to the professional ranks. A select few have passionate interests outside of football which likely bodes well for them when they decide to hang up the cleats. Players that earned a spot on the my own NFL Twitter roster were not only active (they post most every day, or at least every couple of days), but also engage with fans/followers, provide information and insight into their lives on and off the football field, and for the most part, keep their tweets relatively clean.

So, without further ado, here are the NFL players I consider the best on Twitter and why (in alphabetical order):

Nick Barnett

Position: LB

Team: Green Bay Packers

Who: One of Twitter’s most popular NFL players with more than 30,000 followers, Barnett often tweets about his activities in and out of Lambeau Field and talks directly with his followers. He told a follower on September 24, “I think it’s so cool to be able to interact with the fans..”

Drew Brees

Position: QB

Team: New Orleans Saints

Who: Though early, Drew Brees is in the midst of great season: his team is off to a perfect start, he’s tied for the league lead in touchdown passes with nine, and he is one of only two quarterbacks with a QB Rating over 105. Even so, Brees finds time to regularly update his Twitter stream for his more than 24,000 followers about life both on and off the field, and the charitable causes in which he is involved.

Reggie Bush

Position: RB

Team: New Orleans Saints

Who: Bush is one of the most popular players in the NFL and one of the most popular Twitter users, period, with over 400,000 followers. He is very active, converses with followers, talks about football, and often tweets inspirational or religious messages.

Chase Daniel

Position: QB

Team: New Orleans Saints

Who: He might be backup to the backup, but you can really feel the thrill of being a rookie through his tweets, such as this one on being activated on September 26: “Just found out I’m traveling and activated for tomorrow’s game! See you in Buffalo Saints fans!” He also has more than 10,000 followers. Not bad for a NFL newbie.

Darnell Dockett

Position: DE

Team: Arizona Cardinals

Who: In reading his posts, you know he values his fans/followers and thanks them often. He responds to tweets and offers fun fan insight when writing his own thoughts. His anger and frustration has come through, too, at times.

Lee Evans

Position: WR

Team: Buffalo Bills

Who: Evans interacts with his followers, posts links to photos and video on his Facebook and personal web pages, and talks about what it’s like to be in the NFL playing against your friends.

Jay Feely

Position: K

Team: New York Jets

Who: Yes, there are a few kickers on Twitter! Feely has a descriptive profile that shows all of his interests; he shares game thoughts, retweets (more sharing), posts about general football news and guides followers to his media interviews in print and electronic outlets.

Larry Fitzgerald

Position: WR

Team: Arizona Cardinals

Who: One of the most active and popular NFL players both on the field and virtually, Fitzgerald is very conversational, with much of his Twitter stream taken up by @replies to his fans and followers.

Ryan Grant

Position: RB

Team: Green Bay Packers

Who: Ryan Grant is a super active and engaging Twitter user who gives his followers and inside look into the day-to-day life of NFL players. Grant has a sense of humor and it shows in his tweets, which are often amusing.

Matt Hasselbeck

Position: QB

Team: Seattle Seahawks

Who: Though he’s recently caught grief from fans for his long Twitter name (@MatthewHass008), the popular quarterback uses Twitter to engage fans (even doing things like helping fans track down where to buy team merchandise), and often shares links, pictures, and retweets things he links.

Maurice Jones-Drew

Position: RB

Team: Jacksonville Jaguars

Who: The popular Jaguars running back has a fun profile that reads: “nothing is given to you in life. You have to take what you want and im not talking about stealing…..” Jones-Drew uses Twitter to respond to media criticism, but also uses it to explore the challenges faced by an NFL player.

Shawne Merriman

Position: LB

Team: San Diego

Who: With over 70,000 engaged followers, super popular Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman is an engaging Twitter user who often responds to followers, talks about life on and off the field, and has even participated in some tweeted trash talking with other NFL players (or one in particular — the next player on this list)

Chad Ochocinco

Position: WR

Team: Cincinnati Bengals

Who: Perhaps the most entertaining player in the NFL, the talented Chad Ochocinco (formerly Chad Johnson) is also one of the most followed with over 200,000 followers. He responds to his fans, whether they compliment or criticize him, gives away prizes to followers, routinely angers the league with his behavior, lobbies fans for roster spots on their fantasy football teams, and trash talks with other players. Ochocinco loves Twitter more than the average person.

Terrell Owens

Position: WR

Team: Buffalo Bills

Who: One of the most well-known athletes in any sport, T.O. has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter and he really does interact with them. As one might suspect, he’s not shy about sharing his opinions, either. Owens shares insights into what being a football player and celebrity is like.

Antonio Pierce

Position: LB

Team: New York Giants

Who: Pierce posts fun information about his life as a professional football player with the Giants, leads followers to his interviews, and kindly answers lots of tweets. He also likes to use Twitter as a way to pump up fans prior to game time.

Sidney Rice

Position: WR

Team: Minnesota Vikings

Who: Rice’s tweets are about life on the road and often include Twitpics of the places he travels with the team. He talks with his followers, blogs, gives insight into the life of a pro athlete, and clearly bleeds Vikings purple.

Tutan Reyes

Position: G

Team: New York Giants

Who: The Giants’ guard is a super Twitter user and clearly a fun guy. He tweets mostly about his life off the field, talking about the clubs and restaurants he goes to, the music he listens to, funny links, and other things he does for fun, as well as interacting with followers. He’s also clearly a big sports fan, and tweets about fellow athletes (such as about tennis during the US Open).

Craig Terrill

Position: DT

Team: Seattle Seahawks

Who: Terrill’s tweets are genuine, such as his excitement about his daughter’s first steps on September 22. Does a great job promoting his music career, converses often with followers, and gives his fans an inside look into the locker room by commenting on observations about his teammates.

Stephen Tulloch

Position: LB

Team: Tennessee Titans

Who: The Titans’ dreadful 0-4 start could be the reason more people don’t follow Tulloch (he has just more than 1,700 followers), but he is one of the most thoughtful and thankful NFL Twitter users, and provides insight into the game as well as his experiences playing professional football.

Vince Wilfork

Position: DT

Team: New England Patriots

Who: Wilfork’s profile bio describes how he wants to be known: “husband, friend, father… greatest things in life.” One of the things he does most often on Twitter is promote the Vince Wilfork Foundation, a very worthwhile organization that funds the search for a cure for diabetes.

BONUS: Preist Holmes

Position: RB

Team: Kansas City Chiefs

Who: The former Pro-Bowl running back for the Kansas City Chief, Priest Holmes walked away from football in 2007 following a neck injury in order to pursue his new passion, promoting the Priest Holmes Foundation, an organization that focuses on education and enriching children’s lives. Holmes interacts with followers regularly, and still talks football. Though retired, Holmes is definitely a must-follow for football fans.

I’m sure you have your own preferences of which NFL players you like to follow and commiserate with on Twitter. Feel free to add to this list and tell us why you like that player’s Twitter presence by leaving your thoughts in the comments.

More Twitter follow lists from Mashable:

- Musicians on Twitter: 100+ Artists That Tweet
- Tasty Tweets: 55+ Foodies to Follow on Twitter
- Green Tweets: 75+ Environmentalists to Follow on Twitter
- 15 Must-Follow Comedic Film Actors on Twitter
- 20 Developers to Follow on Twitter

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, skodonnell