Professional Athletes Role Model Essay

766 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of sports in society

What is a role model? According to psychologist Frank L. Smell, he credits Random House Dictionary as “the term role model is defined as ‘a person whose behavior, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially younger people.’” One columnist states, “ humans have an irrational tendency to look for guidance in life when insecurity and uncertainty creep up as they always do. Being in the media spotlight and displaying some degree of excellence, professional athletes involuntarily steer the moral compass of millions of devout fans”( Denson). Professional athletes should be better role models than what they are today because the public which includes kids of all ages and adults look up to these players. They pay close attention to these athletes every move, on and off the field, court, and rink. The job of a professional athlete is to entertain the public with their talent and skills. Thus, there is no time or place to disrespect veterans, public service personnel like policemen and fireman, nor our country's homeland security. For one, these professional athletes are paid high salaries. Since society is career oriented, they are always looking for ways to make a lot of money. Many dream of playing a …show more content…

Being a professional player is a privilege. It is not a right, and it must be treated as a privilege. As long as the public is in view of these pro players, then the players need to act accordingly. A lot of money is put in these players hands. They are to show the respect to our military, public servants, and the public, especially to the youth of this land. Since athletes are automatically role models for kids and fans, maybe the question of, “ are we asking too much from these athletes? needs to be

Show More
Related

  • The System of College Sports

    1634 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... room for adults to be playing a child’s game instead of going to school. If athletes want to play that bad because they feel that they are good enough then they have to make sacrifices. I am not against talented individuals playing professional sports but I am against those who do not obtain a degree and actually get something out of college before doing so. Written in an article published by USA Today “in 2009 that 78 percent of NFL players are bankrupt or facing serious financial stress within two years of ending their playing careers and that 60percent of NBA players are broke within five years of retiring from the game” (Wiles, 2012). Professional athletics is not all about fame and being filthy rich and this is something that young college students don’t understand. It is essential to better yourself and obtain a degree, there is more to life than just sports.

    Read More

  • Pay Day: Greed in Professional Sports

    1645 Words  | 4 Pages

    Players do not deserve the money they receive. There are people who do much more than the players do. Why do teachers not get paid millions of dollars to teach kids? Some of those kids end up going on to become professional athletes. Police officers and firemen risk their lives to keep people safe and most of them do not even make any more than 95 thousand dollars a year (Megerian). These athletes get fined more money than that and hand it over like someone just asked them for one dollar. Players have all of this money and do not even do anything worth earning it. Why do they get this money? It is because fans value athletes more than the important things in life like education and family.

    Read More

  • Major League Baseball Business

    1553 Words  | 4 Pages

    Paige, Sean. "Professional Athletes as Role Models." Professional Sports. Ed. James D. Torr Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2003. 171-80. Print.

    Read More

  • Professional Athletes Deserve Every Cent

    3566 Words  | 8 Pages

    Many major cities generate hundreds of millions of dollars per year in revenue from ticket and merchandise sales from the marketability and popularity of their professional athletes. These athletes play for teams hundreds, even thousands of miles away from their homes and families in hopes of winning a championship. They spend weeks on end away from parents, wives, and children. These athletes endure injuries far beyond what the average person would. The most healthy, fit, and talented athletes are considered lucky if the can play past 35 years of age. Professional athletes take such physical abuse, many have to retire because one more blow could mean death. You can't put a price on life.

    Read More

  • Being A College Athlete Essay

    396 Words  | 1 Pages

    Being a college athlete is very tiring. College athletes have to endure a ton of things. From six AM practices, to midnight study sessions, being a college athlete is hard. To be a college athlete, the athlete has to be prepared to get used to getting little to no sleep. With early morning practices, class and then studying, with possibly a lifting session, a college athlete needs to be prepared to be pushed not only physically, but also mentally. To be a college athlete it takes a lot of mental toughness. A college athlete has to find it in them to do whatever it takes to study for all of their classes, meaning staying up until necessary, and then waking up the next morning to get up and practice. This is one of the hardest things for college athletes. Mental toughness is a whole other level when it involves sleep. Where one would say, “No. It is fine. I will just wing the test. I am too tired to study.” Or, “I will just study in the morning.” Athletes have to be prepared to break mental boundaries and drive themselves to success. They have to realize that other things are more important and that sleep will have to wait. Megan, a

    Read More

  • Essay Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    salary. Once they get paid they will not try as hard to go professional. If the athletes do not play as hard,

    Read More

  • College Athletes and Scholarships: Not what it Seems

    1536 Words  | 4 Pages

    Many still seem to believe a “free” education is more than enough, when in reality, not many players are actually given a free education. While every student has the potential to earn financial aid and academic scholarship money, athletes are also capable of receiving athletic money. A majority of athletes today are either playing without an athletic scholarship or a partial scholarship, in addition to other grants and academic subsidies. To non-athletes, this may seem unfair, but look at the big picture. These athletes are spending much of their time in the gym, on the practice field, and even in the trainer’s room dealing with injuries on a daily basis. It is extremely difficult to manage school, athletics, and life itself at once let alone finding the time to earn money working at the same time. When trying to juggle a packed schedule, it is easy to forget important things or at the very least ones effectiveness is hindered thus weaken the ability to be successful. There is also a great deal of stress and anxiety that comes with the game. In fact, there is a field of psychology specifically designed for athletes and their mental privation. The mental ailments and lack of free time definitely prohibit athletes from being as successful as they can academically. Conversely, non-athletes have much more time available allowing them to study and work at a younger age. Although athletic scholarships certainly assist these athletes in attending schools with inflated tuition fees, it is by no means enough for many collegiate athletes.

    Read More

  • Being A College Athlete Essay

    881 Words  | 2 Pages

    College is a time for young people to develop and grow not only in their education, but social aspects as well. One of the biggest social scenes found around college campuses are athletic events, but where would these college sports be without their dedicated athletes? Student athletes get a lot of praise for their achievements on the field, but tend to disregard the work they accomplish in the classroom. Living in a college environment as a student athlete has a great deal of advantages as well as disadvantages that affect education and anti-intellectualism.

    Read More

  • College Athletes Deserve to Be Paid

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sports were created for the enjoyment of beings and friendly competition. Today society has shifted the friendly competition to more of a money based system rather than fun and games. The typical athletes’ road to success is starting from a young age, playing in high school, and then receiving a scholarship for College and all athletes overall objective is to constantly get better and play professionally. Universities have really manipulated athletes in the world today giving them “free education” for the exchange of their blood, sweet, and tears, while they receive revenue that athletes bring in yearly. It is very evident that College athletes deserve to be paid, and universities need to find a way to pay them a reasonably amount because of all the revenue they bring into each of their universities.

    Read More

  • Hegemony Theory In Sports

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    Without winning, they will not make any money. That’s when they tend to take matters into their own hands. The hegemony theory supports this idea of money driven sports and athletes. In Sociology of the American sport, Eitzen and Sage describe the hegemony theory as sports being a means by which we teach values and cultural ideas of what is right and wrong (Eitzen & Sage, 2016). The major franchises such as NFL and MLB pay their players and coaches thousands, often millions, of dollars to play and coach. In result, the players and coaches are going to live very comfortable lives and be fairly wealthy. This is teaching the athletes that aspire to be like the professionals and the main benefits of being a professional athlete is the money. So, as a result, some athletes realize that the only way they will get to that status is if they

    Read More

  • Why Athletes are Good Role Models

    1472 Words  | 3 Pages

    A lot of Athletes are model citizens that you should really look up to, but there are. also some bad apples in the bunch that ruin it for everyone. Athletes can inspire young people to work hard so that their efforts can pay off, but no one. is pure and flawless. Greed does take a hold of some players, but they do. shouldn't be the ones we devote all of our attention to.

    Read More

  • Athletes as Role Models

    2057 Words  | 5 Pages

    Athlets have been lookd up to as role models for as long as sports have exsted. There is just something attractive about the thought of being in good physical condition and being talented in sports. But, are athlets the kind of people that children should be looking up to for direction and guidance? Many children often look up to the professional athletes as role models. In fact, in 1995 Sports Illustrated for Kids did a survey for kids who were ages 7 through 12 about who their role model was. The majority of the kids answered that a professional athlete was who they most looked up to. Only four percent of the children answered that their role model was one of thir parents. Because of today?s media, athletes are constantly in the public eye. Everything they do on and off of the playing field. Some professional athletes speak a positive message through their fame by demonstrating constructive ideas such as teamwork and commitment while they are on the field. Even off of the playing field some athletes set a good example by visiting children in schools, going to hospitals, or even setting up foundations and organizations to help the ill and less fortunate people. However, other athletes are not as considerate to the fact that someone may be looking up to them, some athletes are not concerned about anything other than the sport they are getting paid to play and themselves. These athletes are the ones that propose questions over whether athletes should be considered role models or not. A role model can be defined as a person whose behavior, example or success is or can be emulated by others, especially young people. Who would want their child looking up to someone who has been convicted of domestic violence or has a drug addiction? It is an argument of opinion that cannot be settled.

    Read More

  • Athletes Salaries

    746 Words  | 2 Pages

    The most valid and substantial reason athletes are overpaid relates to their performance. Yes, they are professionals, but in the grand schemes of things, what are they really accomplishing? These people are playing a game for entertainment purposes. Mark Simmons states that “… Ozzie Smith earned $2.34 million from the St. Louis Cardinals for pounding his frame into the dirt and fetching all those grounders” (Source A). Similarly, someone states that athletes make more than enough money for “throwing a ball or swinging a bat” (Source E). The capital that is spent on athletics is astounding; some athletes are making hundreds of millions of dollars over consecutive years for fiddling with a ball or running around. And it seems such a wild thing to be making that kind of money off a task that requires no formal education. ...

    Read More

  • Lebron James: A Positive Role Model Analysis

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lebron is a positive role model because of how he voices his opinions on social issues. Lebron feels a need to voice his opinions on social issues to show people it is not bad to speak your mind no matter if it is accepted or not. Such as when Lebron wore a “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirt during warmups (Scott). During the 2014 year a man named Eric Garner was choked to death by a police officer. LeBron being the kind of person responded not in words but in action. He along with other wore these T-Shirts to speak against police brutality. Another time Lebron made his opinions known was when he and other spoke out against the racial injustice that exists today (Grossman). He put on a speech on national television. It was not to berate anyone or group but was to inspire change in relations between people and law enforcement. He made it known that Black were target of this kind of crimes more than whites and brought that knowledge to the public stage. It was

    Read More

  • Professional Athlete Salaries

    1356 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s society many will argue whether or not professional athletes are overpaid. In the present time athletes are being paid phenomenally large amounts of money for their entertainment. It is my claim that all professional athletes are overpaid because they do not offer society an essential function that improves or enhances our world in comparison to other professionals such as medical doctors, lawyers, and teachers. Society does not value entertainment enough to warrant such high salaries such as those of many professional athletes. There is no reason that these athletes should demand these tremendous amounts of money. This is why you have to put into question their reasoning for demanding such high salaries.

    Read More

More about Professional Athletes Role Model Essay

Open Document