What Are We Doing to Athletes?

You know what really grinds my gears? I’ll tell you what really grinds my gears; people that try to make a quick buck at the expense of other people’s reputation. That who is you, journalists; sadly enough, I fall into this category. No need to worry; it’s not just a journalistic problem it’s a problem within this countries society, as well.

In the last five years or so, what have been the most dominant stories in sports? Answer: negative stories about the actions of athletes on and off of the playing field.

These stories included everything from the “Brawl” at the Palace in Detroit between the Pacers and fans to Michael Vick’s imprisonment for funding a dog-fighting ring to Vince Young and Ricky Williams going through difficult times mentally to Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg to, most recently, the problems that Tiger Woods is going through. These stories have dominated sports’ media.

Anyways, you guys get where I am going with this. The list of examples is endless and at the front of our minds. While these stories were going on, you couldn’t turn on ESPN or Fox Sports Net or a sports radio program without hearing about them.

I know you are all wondering: why are you talking about this, Nick? Well, the answer is simple. There are stories that go overlooked and under-reported everyday that include very uplifting and inspirational messages, not to mention, show that there are a vast amount of athletes that dedicate an enormous amount of time and energy into helping their communities. By no means am I saying that the afore mentioned stories are not newsworthy, because they are, but I think that we, as journalists, can show people another side of professional athletes that is a lot less depressing, and these are stories that society should want to hear about!

I know people are generally quite negative about Twitter, albeit unfair in my opinion, because people like Terrell Owens post tweets like “On this historic day 36 years ago, God blessed this world with a specimen like no other! I present to you, Terrell E. Owens!” Uh…that’s awesome!

However, I also stumbled upon Broncos’ linebacker, Elvis Dumervil’s, Twitter and saw something very uplifting and encouraging. Dumervil posted, “Got a couple things lined up today. First off, taking 400 kids shopping at Walmart for an early Christmas treat, have to take care of the kids.” Why don’t shows like Outside the Lines do specials like this instead of talking about the Mark Mangino scandal? During the holiday season, there are athletes all over the country from all types of sports that are reaching out to those in need, and people should be hearing about it. The people need to be hearing about it for two reasons. First, they should hear about it because people need to see that athletes do care about their communities. Second, if people see where these athletes are getting involved, they may also want to get involved with the same charities or organizations. This will ultimately increase the philanthropy in their communities.

I have a brilliant idea. Networks like ESPN should make a more concerted effort to stories like this. I can think of two different times of year that I know for sure that I can find such stories on ESPN. That is in the summer when they are teaming up with the Make A Wish Foundation and the beginning of December during “Jimmy V. Week.”

All I can say about the “My Wish” segments on ESPN is how they evoke such great emotion from their viewers; even the most stoic of people can’t help but get choked up about how happy these kids that are terminally ill or disabled get when their wishes come true. Athletes that have been involved with this segment have included people, among many others, such as Donovan McNabb, Chris Paul, David Wright, and Ben Roethlisberger. Quick poll: Who had heard that Roethlisberger had taken time to play video games and spend a day with a young man who was paralyzed in a tragic car accident and will never walk again? If I were a betting man, I would bet that there is a very small portion of the population that knew about this.

Fourteen year old Hakeem had his wish came true. He spent the day at the Pittsburgh Steelers practice, watching most of it from the sideline. However, he was in for a special treat; Roethlisberger brought Hakeem into practice to participate. After he got over the shock of the idea of being on the very same field as his idols, Hakeem positioned himself in his electric-wheel chair in the backfield behind Roethlisberger. The center snapped the ball to Big Ben who then placed the ball in Hakeem’s lap. Hakeem started through the hole the offensive line had created for him. With an ecstatic smile on his face, Hakeem continued towards the end zone with the Steelers’ defensive players diving to stop him, but it was to no avail for the defense. Hakeem scored a touchdown. His wish came true. The elation that this brought to Hakeem is not only indescribable, but it is also unmatchable. There is nothing greater or more rewarding in this world than being able to change someone’s life, especially a kid that has gone through such tough times.

Unfortunately, this isn’t what the general public knows about Roethlisberger. Instead, we know that he is an accomplished quarterback that has looming allegations involving a civil suit against him. The outcome of the civil case has not yet been settled, but it looks a lot like the Kobe Bryant case many years ago where there were relations which were consensual.

My point is this: there are people today that are trying to get rich, get ahead in their job, or get television ratings even if it is at the expense of someone else’s reputation. This really grinds my gears. It is morally unacceptable take advantage of someone for your own personal gain, and we should hold ourselves to the highest of standards in this regard. It is important to distinguish, however, that you don’t mistake taking advantage of someone and taking action against someone by whom you have actually been wronged. There is a huge difference.

Let’s move on to Jimmy V. Week. Fortunately, Jimmy Valvano has never been the subject of an ugly story that would ruin him in any way whatsoever. Valvano is a man that will forever be remembered for what a great person he was. The tragedy of his story is not what we know about him; the real tragedy is how many of us know about him and what he has accomplished as a man, as a coach, and as a foundation for cancer research. Yes, he himself is a foundation for cancer research. His name, ever since his death, is synonymous with cancer research.

Valvano was a collegiate basketball coach that had the greatest days of his coaching career at North Carolina State University. More important than his coaching career was his relentless love for those around him. He is a man that will always be remembered by those who knew him as a family man that would do anything for those he loved and even those he didn’t. He, along with the support of ESPN, started the V Foundation for Cancer Research that has raised over $90 million for cancer research. Valvano truly understood how important and powerful people helping people is. In the most memorable speech that I have heard, Valvano said, “Try if you can to support, whether it is AIDS or the cancer foundation, so that someone else might survive, might prosper, might actually be cured of this dreaded disease.” This is so important because this demonstrates a vital value that has been lost or downsized in our society today. Do not do things because it will help you. Do things because it is right.

I think this is a value that people have somehow lost sight of; we have put it into the background. Instead, much of society is looking for who they can exploit, who they can take advantage of in order to help their lives. Unfortunately for athletes, they are the easiest target for society as well as the media. They are young and rich and are very vulnerable to exploitation. Just recently golfer, John Daly, found out that his ex-wife and her father had been stealing money from him throughout his marriage. Sure, Daly has made more than his fair share of mistakes in life, but that in no way makes it acceptable to take advantage of him. This, along with countless other examples, is an example of how people in society take advantage of athletes. The media does the same thing.

Last season, Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans, went through a rough time on the field which surfaced potential issues that Young was going through mentally and emotionally. In no way were we, the media, sympathetic towards this. Those who covered the story were ruthless about it. When all of these things were going on, this story dominated sports’ media. It was an important story to cover; unfortunately, it played a role in Vince Young’s reputation being hurt dramatically. Fortunately, he is doing a great job earning that back with his on-field play right now. What many people don’t know is what Vince Young has done in a positive way as a man, not just a quarterback. The late Steve McNair was an important mentor to Young before he was murdered earlier this year. In an attempt to show his appreciation for everything that McNair did, as well as do the right thing as a person, Young took McNair’s kids to their school’s “Dear Dad’s Breakfast.” This must have meant the world to these kids to not have to go through this day alone. My point is this, just about everyone that tuned into ESPN during last year’s football season heard about the problems Young was going through, but hardly anyone knows about the extraordinary thing he did for the McNair family.

Not only should we be sure not to take advantage of athletes, but we also need to remember that they are people just like us. They have families and lives outside of the sport that they compete in for a living. What happens on the playing field while they are working is fair game, but we as a media base do not have the right to know every intimate detail of their lives. The most recent example of this is Tiger Woods. Tiger is probably the most recognizable athlete in the entire world, and he is currently going through a very difficult time in his personal life. We don’t have the right to know exactly what is going on with him nor does he have the responsibility or obligation to give us an explanation. The only people he needs to apologize or explain things to are his family, friends, sponsors, and the PGA Tour. If he were to engage in misconduct on the golf course or during a charity event for the Tiger Woods Foundation, which has helped millions of underprivileged kids learn the game of golf in an attempt to keep them away from juvenile delinquency, then he would owe us all an apology. But what happens in his home with his family is none of our business. He deserves as much privacy, in this regard, as anyone else.

It is difficult to change the media let alone the dominant discourses of society. However, it is possible. It starts with society not wanting to hear about people in high places, such as athletes, falling. Stop demanding that we cover these negative stories and dismissing the positive ones. Next, we as a media can help the situation by trying to cover more of the uplifting stories; show that they really are out there and that there are more than what people are aware of.

Finally, I urge us as a society to think about the implications of our actions in everything we do. That includes good and bad. Are we going to help someone else today, or are we going to step on someone in route to trying to accomplish our goals. I would hate to go back to quoting an athlete’s Twitter page again, but… Wait, who am I kidding? I would love to. Chad Ochocinco, yes, the very controversial Bengals’ receiver, said “If you’re already great, take the next step and make history. Change a life, and make somebody around you great.” Ochocinco talks about trying to be great every day, and he understands that greatness goes well beyond a football field. True greatness is not only making ourselves great, but it is also bringing others to greatness with us. We all need to adopt this philosophy.