Have you ever wondered where all of the good athletes have gone? I’m not talking about athletes who are talented. There are plenty of talented athletes playing today. I’m talking about the athletes who are heroes. The athletes who spend their entire careers playing for one team, or the athletes that do the right thing, even if it is unpopular. Where are the athletes who are heroes?
It seems that every other day there is a story on Sportscenter about an athlete shooting himself in the leg, or a quarterback sending pictures of himself to a female reporter. And of course, athletes who cheat on their wives multiple times. While normal people do these kinds of things everyday, it’s the exposure that makes these athletes look as bad as they do. These stories unfold on every channel.
Everytime there is a new statement about the incident, breaking news will come flashing across the screen, and the analysis of the situation begins. It doesn’t matter which athlete it is, or what happened, it all plays out the same.
This over-exposure may seem unfair to the athletes, but they know exactly what to expect. They know that part of the job is being a role model. Little kids grow up loving their favorite athletes, pretending to be them during neighborhood games.
Athletes are more concerned with what team will give them the most money. They will play for four or five teams throughout their career, and they don’t care if their fans fall in love with him. Every team has had their star player ship out to a bigger market, to play with a better team, to make more money. Money seems to be the driving factor behind these failing heroes. Now, you’re not a real athlete if you don’t have 17 cars with rims that match your tennis shoes. If you can’t get hundreds of people to line up outside at midnight to get your tennis shoes, you’re not a successful athlete. If you don’t go to the hottest parties, roll with the biggest posses, you’re not a real athlete. Most athletes these days can’t even be honest about their skill, they have to take a magic pill to make them hit the ball harder or run faster. It’s sad that this is what athletes have become.
This evolution that has turned athletes into thugs and criminals needs to stop. We need more athletes to take their wads of money and do something useful with it. We need more athletes who spend their offseason in the weight room, naturally improving their skill. We need athletes we can look up to for the right reasons, not for how much money they spend.

hrrutt@mesastate.edu