Are athletes really heroes?

The Tiger Woods controversy should teach the public a lesson

How do you perceive your favorite athletes? If you search the definition of hero on Google, the first hit comes up as “A man distinguished by exceptional courage, nobility and strength. A champion: someone who fights for a cause.” Can we always associate our favorite athletes as god like figures who do not make mistakes?

Black Friday brought about the Tiger Woods Massacre. The sporting world saw one of its more cherished athletes show a chink in his armor. Tiger had crashed his Cadillac into a fire hydrant as well as a tree of his driveway in the early morning of November 27^th. Elin Nordergren, Tiger’s wife had to take a nine iron to the back windshield to pull out her husband who was in-and-out of consciousness.  Tiger would end up being fine other than a few face lacerations after a brief visit to the emergency room. It should have been case closed on the Tiger Woods scare, but the media hoopla began to swirl.

The news of Tiger’s crash as well as Elin Nordergren’s rescue effort seemed to be all too suspicious? After hearing the rumors that Woods was having an affair with Jaimee Grubbs, a cocktail waitress and contestant on VH1’s Tool Academy, the car accident put the icing on the cake for the media. Tiger Woods was having an affair that led to a fight with his wife.

The general public as well as the media demanded an apology. Tiger did not give one initially, only releasing statements on his personal website to calm the storm. Tiger did not owe the public an apology. What crime did he really commit? The status of Tiger’s marriage is none of our business and even more of a private matter.

National columnist, Jason Whitlock of FOXSports.com in his weekly column defended golf’s most recognized athlete this week stating, “But Tiger is evil for exercising the most fundamental right we enjoy? He's stupid because he wants to deal with his marital problems in private? He owes the public an apology for promises he broke to his wife? Tiger Woods never feigned perfection on or off the golf course. He demanded privacy. He refused to bow to the whims and desires of the media."

Now do not get me wrong. I am not condoning or claiming to give Tiger Woods a mulligan on having multiple affairs over the years. The whole situation brings to mind an important thing to remember: Most of the time whether we like it or not our favorite athletes are not choirs boys/girls or even saints. Athletes are normal people like you and I who make mistakes. We need to remember that just because our athletes act a certain way on the field does not mean the act the same way off the field.

Mike Francesa of WFAN in New York had an interview with former NBA star Charles Barkley last week that caught my intention. Francesa asked Barkley about his opinion on the Tiger Woods situation being a prominent athlete who has had his fair share of off the court incidents.

Francesa stated “One thing that America likes, is they like to think their heroes are these clean cut, great guys who go home, play with their kids and eat apple pie. There are some people in this country who want their heroes to be that, even if their not. We know that this is not the case 9 times out of 10, but people want to believe it anyway.”

Barkley defended athletes claiming, “We all are just people. We all are going to make mistakes; first of all let me make that point. This notation where one day you’re a hero the next day you’re a scumbag. That is my whole problem with this hero worship.”

Charles Barkley does not leave much to the imagination when he gives you his opinion, but the point is valid. Athletes are held to such a high standard that the general public will perceive you as a hero one day and a chump the next day for the slightest error in judgment. In reality, professional athletes most of the time are people who have exceptional talents that have earned them the accolades regardless of image. There is no guarantee that professional athletes owe it to the public to be judged on character when they are off the field of play. Athletes are not trained to think about being role models necessarily.

Athletes are perceived to be as wholesome as apple pie in this country, but the truth of the matter is that we like to take a blind eye to how a lot of athletes act on an every day basis.

For every hero like Derek Jeter, recently named Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year,” there are four or five players like Donte Stallworth. Donte Stallworth being the Cleveland Browns wide receiver who made an error in judgment by driving over the legal limit and killing a pedestrian in March.

For every Tim “Superman” Tebow there are athletes like Gold Medal swimmer Michael Phelps as well as 2009 NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum who were both in the news for marijuana use.

We need to remember that athletes did not choose to be role models for the most part. Each individual carries their own legacy on how they want to be remembered. Some players simply do not care how they are perceived by the public while they live their own personal lives. It can be very hypocritical for fans as well as the media to judge athletes in circumstances that involve personal privacy like the case of Tiger Woods. How can we judge an athlete based on information that we should never have found out about in the first place?

The real shame is that now the public is trained to wait for “the next shoe to drop,” with professional athletes. Tiger Woods was the first athlete to make billions of dollars in endorsements based off his brand and image. Woods will now have his image forever tarnished. The public perception now is: Who will be the next “good guy” to show his/her true colors?  We live in a world of doubt.

I personally could care less what Tiger Woods does off the course or what car company he endorses.  The truth is that Tiger Woods helped the public realize that we cannot always associate athletes as the heroes we thought they were.