I lived in Jacksonville Florida when the Jaguars first entered the NFL. I adopted the franchise as my team much like I adopted the Blue Jackets as my NHL team because we both came to town the same year.
Since the Jaguars are not covered by local news I do not keep up with day to day issues regarding players past and present. I happened across an article just yesterday on the net talking about how Jimmy Smith was stopped and charged with possession of drugs and driving on a suspended license for the fifth time. I had heard he turned himself into rehab a year after he retired but assumed he was now on the straight and narrow.
The news surprised me because Jimmy had always been the quiet leader that just caught passes. Much more in the mold of a Jerry Rice then some of today’s WRs in the NFL. Jimmy Smith and Mark Brunell were not as potent of an offensive passing duo as Jerry Rice and Joe Montana, but Jimmy did log some very stats for quite a few years in a row. He even had a great comeback season after stomach surgery, which some thought was career ending , sidelined him for a year.
I kind of had a bet with myself that he might be the first Jacksonville Jaguar to be inducted to the Hall of Fame. But I suspect all his recent bad acts in society over the past few years may now stop that from ever happening.
Is this fair? I can understand if a player is doing steroids or is sent to prison while they are an active player would disqualify them for life. But after they leave football or their sport, are they still required to be viewed from a faux societal pedestal?
Also if you believe they should still be held to that standard should players already in the Hall of Fame for their sport be kicked out. Should OJ Simpson be stricken from the pages of the NFL.
It strikes me funny that priests and doctors can get mulligans in life for bad choices and still be allowed to recover their name, professional status and credentials. These are professions and chosen callings that people say they are voluntarily entered into as a duty. They require members to take oaths that they want to be stewards of society and humanity.
Top pros just start out as kids that like to play games, and discover they are good at that game. Society then spends the next 20 or 30 years letting them know just how wonderful they are for life and hold them in high regard. No one says to their favorite athlete “you are great do you promise to be a great role model for my children or do I have to boycott you?”
Yes many players look at their abilities as a gift and rise to the adilation and good will bestowed on them and give back to their local communities and society. However we are surprised when they act only in their own interests, choosing to look at their gift as a business commodity and act only in their shareholders best interest.
We teach courses in college to teach people to act this business savvy way, and bestow an MBA on the best students of the craft of corporate greed. We compare salaries of top players suggesting to all that just because they got a great sports manager (lawyer) that got them the best compensation that they are the best of the best players in their sport.
Charles Barkley is the only top basketball player to come right out and tell parents he was not volunteering to be their kids role model. it is a good thing he did because we would have to ban him from being a commentator for life if he hadn’t warned us.
If you have a story about one of your favorite sports personalities I would love to discuss it. Say Michael Phelps for instance, do we congratulate his fessing up to his stupid Cheech and Chung impression, or do we strip him of his eight goal medals or put an asterisk by his name in the record books?
-
Search It!
-
Recent Entries
-
Links
