Everything that is said or done by a person of fame these days seem to be news worthy. We live in a society that puts fame above human feelings. All you hear are people saying that the athletes choose their profession, so they should be ready to deal with the fame. You have professional athletes that are 20 years old and you expect them to do all the right things? When you were 20 years old did you make any not so wise decisions? Why are we so quick to make an athlete a role model because he can throw a football 80 yards or hit a baseball 500 feet?
Why can't our role models be doctors or teachers? These people went to school for 4 years or more and they help people everyday. Sure they might not be able to dunk a basketball or run a 4.4 forty but they are the role models we should want our children to look up to. We put so much pressure on these athletes and then we wonder why they fail. A lot of these athletes graduate high school and go to college for 2 or 3 years and then we put the weight of the world on them and sit back to watch them fail. You give a 20 year old millions of dollars, little education and wonder why he is bankrupt when he is 30. Not to mention a lot of these kids come from low income backgrounds, and just get crazy when they have money for the first time in their life.
You have a linebacker for Notre Dame named Manti Te'o that is all over the news right now because of a mistake he made. You have Johnny Manziel, a Heisman Trophy winner, getting in trouble this year that was all over the news. This is just crazy, these guys are young and young people make mistakes. Despite how well they perform on the field and the amount of attention they get, they are still human. Its pretty bad when a story of an athlete having a fake girlfriend die is bigger news than hostages being held at a gas plant is Algeria.
There are many more important things in this world. I think we need to give all these athletes a break. What they do in their life and accomplish or don't accomplish is their problem. They have to deal with the decisions they make, not any of us. Why can't we just admire what they do on the field or court and leave it at that? We get so bent out of shape when an athlete screws up but it doesn't affect us, it's their life. I realize reporting on these “famous” people is big news but I think it helps contribute to some of their failure.
I would love to see more articles about the good deeds that athletes do. It's pretty sad that a player arrested for drunken driving is bigger news then an athlete building a house for a homeless family. There is a lot of charity work going on with professional athletes but the bad publicity always overshadowed the good. I watch sports religiously but, at the end of the day, it's only a game.
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