BY FAIZAL KHAMISA – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
The kids are the future. That’s what we’ve been told. So if they’re the generation set forth to lead the world in the years to come, they deserve better role models than athletes.
It’s ok to like athletes. But we should not love them. LeBron James made famous the line Charles Barkley uttered in the ’80’s. “I am not a role model.”
Both are right. Athletes should not be role models. They’re simply prepared to do so. Over the last week we’ve had two incidents of trouble from athletes revered by their fans.
It started last Monday night after the Atlanta Falcons won over the Denver Broncos. Michael Turner, who ran for a touchdown in the win, and for years has been a darling in the fantasy football world, was caught driving under the influence of alcohol.
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Not 24 hours later, Yunel Escobar, shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays, created controversy for having the words “Tu Ere Maricon” printed on his eye black. The literal English translation for the line is a homophobic slur that is simply not accepted in today’s society.
Escobar isn’t the only one to get into mess over homophobic acts, nor is he the most infamous. Los Angeles Laker legend Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 for blurting a homophobic slang on the basketball court. With cameras and microphones around.
Some role model.
These incidents represent the ignorance athletes so often portray, whether it is intoxication, insensitivity, or Instagram pictures. Parents are forced to remove posters on their kids’ walls, while trying to explain to the young ones that Favorite Player X did something illegal. Often the parents will cover up for the indiscretions of these athlete’s all to keep giving their kid faith.
Parents should be role models. Athletes should not.
The US Government, amid debt, battles on terrorism, and internal political strife used taxpayer money and valuable time fighting baseballs steroid problem because our “heroes” needed some extra help to hit those home runs. These players cheated the system and cheated their fans.
Athletes have cheated all of us for years. This is not to say all athletes are ignorant, that by no means is true. There are many great athletes across all major sports that do many good things. The problem is we don’t know when they’ll do something wrong.
Society is full of acceptable role models. People who commit to shaping the future of kids, all while knowing who these kids actually are. Parents, coaches, teachers, colleagues, bosses. People who day in and day out make an effort to live ethically and influence in the right way surround us. Their successes will not come through championship rings and goal celebrations. Their legacies will be seen through the people they touch through devoted actions.
They are the role models.
Until professional athletes commit to educating themselves on how to be role models, they must no longer be look at as such.
The kids deserve better.
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