Some Athletes Are Criminals not Role Models
The fact that athletes are role models does not correspond with the reality that they often get away with criminal acts.
The growing trend of finding athletes involved with criminal acts is growing at a considerable rate. Though these so-called role models are in the eye of many, the officials and judges elected to determine their guilt usually let these athletes get off. Athletes, though some of them wish not to be, are role models. They are who we watch in our free time, and therefore we would like to be them. I remember watching the now famous Gatorade commercial touring the catchy phrase embodied in tune. “Like Mike, if I could be like Mike,” and thinking, yeah, I’d like to be like Mike. Michael Jordan is who they were implying, and many would argue that they would love to be him.
Since I was a young boy, I’ve been involved with sports. I started playing organized football at the age of five, baseball at age seven, and rugby at the age of fifteen. I played basketball for two years in middle school and also wrestled for one of those years. I am what many would classify as an avid sports fan. Sports for me are an outlet. It lets me enjoy something in the way of healthy competition when playing, and relaxation if I attend a sporting event or watch one on television. While watching a particular sporting event, football, I watch players with an admiration of the skills and athleticism that they employ. I pattern myself on the playing field after the athletes that I look up to. This is only on the field. The other ninety-eight percent of my daily time is spent off the field. It is so with the same amount of perception that I pay attention to those athletes who I pat...
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...eneration is that if something gets hard, as most things do, it is okay to take the easy way out and resort to gambling, drugs, or even violence to solve those problems. Many times due to their social status they get off facing little consequence or none at all. This is the wrong message to be sending. We want more Mikes in the world and we want them to sing that song and follow it. Not to take away from those stories of athletic success but it is normally with more enthusiasm that the public and press pay attention to the negative rather then the positive in most situations. Since it is more noticeable to do wrong then right, we must stress the success stories to our younger generation and give more examples of the positive things athletes do and chastise those who commit crimes and therefore upset the whole flow of the sports world.
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Athletes do not always get in trouble, but when they do some athletes tend to have favoritism shown to them by the law enforcement. When it comes to athletes that break the law, one major viewpoint is that some athletes tend to get special treatment when they commit crimes because they are famous, but with harsher consequences. Athletes are supposed to be role models for younger kids who look up to them, but they are getting in trouble and causing controversy for all the wrong reasons and it is affecting their careers, the athletes might not think that it is because of the favoritism that law enforcement shows them, but it is. When athletes do commit crimes law enforcement tends to be bias toward them because they are known around the world (Withers). Therefore, this causes a lot of controversy surrounding the athlete because many people believe that they do not get disciplined like they should.
This research paper will determine whether professional athletes deserve a second chance to play in professional sports after inappropriate behaviors. Professional athletes are considered idols and are often held to higher standards. Society has become concerned with so many of today’s athletes making the evening news for their unsuitable behaviors.
Crime is any act that violates the law. Many times professional athletes become involved in crime and it seems that they are above the law. The athlete’s notoriety makes it seem that professional athletes are committing crimes more than average people, whether they are felonies or misdemeanors. Should athletes be allowed back into their respective leagues after they commit such crimes?
Athletes are national heroes who are held in high regard. When their reputation gets very high and they fail to realize that they are still accountable for their actions regardless of the position they hold in their societies, athletes can turn into violent activities. They become egocentric and selfish-centered, forgetting that their moral conduct should be put at check just as any other citizen.
The innocence is slowly fading away. Nike, Addidas, Reebok and McDonald are fighting each other off in pursuit of finding a new face to sell and sponsor their products? The camera crews are off course invited, to capture all the action. Films can be later made out of this footage for more revenues. It all about blowing this moment up and making sure it is hyped up to the biggest possible level. The sport news writers have been talking about this for months now. Little kids are now wearing t-shirts with his name on it. His name is increasingly becoming popular all over the world, fans are spending there fortunes on anything with his name on it. We stay eager to here what’s to become of this, as we continued to be rapt up in the hype. The occasion is just as monumental as the coronation of some king or queen. Lights, camera and when the action unfolds, a boy in a man’s body, standing taller than the average, with an ego that has been feed all of his life for his gifted genius as an athlete. He sat in the center of all the attention. The moment we have all been waiting for as arrive, there is complete silence now, to hear him say these words. “I am here today, to declare that I have decided to forgo my college years and make the leap from high school to becoming a professional athlete” We have seen from the recent past the detriments of such decisions. For that reason, it is important that high scholars attend college for at least three years before becoming professional.
Paige, Sean. "Professional Athletes as Role Models." Professional Sports. Ed. James D. Torr Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2003. 171-80. Print.
Can cheating be an excuse for the phrase; survival of the fittest, or is it an epidemic moral corruption? Since the advent of modern competitive sport, winning has always been the bottom line. Honesty, honour and fair play have taken the backseat. The purpose of the essay May The Best Cheater Win, by Harry Bruce, is to inform how cheating has become widespread and accepted in America. Sports are an integral part of American culture and indeed an entire industry exists because of these competitive sports. The result of these competitive sports has led to the moral corruption of most athletes, as they would do anything to win. Harry Bruce discusses the distortion of right and wrong that has penetrated all levels of sports, from children's league to regional division. He confidently informs his reader that organized sports not only "offer benefits to youngsters" but "they also offer a massive program of moral corruption".
In a moral context, it is important to understand the extension of unethical conduct on the field to the inevitable corruption of personal life that becomes part of societal interaction. This type of behavior can extend to sexual misconduct (rape, marital infidelity, etc.), violence, and criminal activity. In modern sporting culture, the popularity and great success of athletes tends to tempt tem into thinking that the game they play is also being played in their personal lives. This form of public personae affects the way they view lawful conduct and morality as a means to achieve success in family life, personal choices, and the management of their daily activities off the field. The public image dictates the way they interact with other people outside of their professional careers. More so, the promotion of immoral and unethical behaviors in sporting institutions set another precedent in which athletes are encouraged to behave through a gamesmanship model. The enculturation of corrupt business practices tend to create a culture of winning as the primary goal of attaining greater wealth and financial prosperity over the sportsmanship qualities that can increase the ethical and moral culture of athletic performance. These moral aspects of off-field behavior define the underlying extension of gamesmanship as a part of immoral behavior by professional athletes:
Even with knowledge of Mosher’s Ph.D. in Sports Studies, the essay would have been stronger if it included additional credible resources. I agree with Mosher’s unstated evaluative claim that society should not expect someone to possess the characteristics of a hero simply because they are a sports athlete. Yet, Mosher asserts that society unrealistically demands their sports athletes to possess traits of high character. After reading this essay, I still ask; why not?
In the world of professional sports there are many criminal acts that are committed both on and off the playing surface. In this section we are going to look at a few cases where criminal acts have occurred.
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.
Because sports news and sports figures are constantly in the news, sports reflect our values. We are living in a society that is filled with violence. Many adults choose to solve their problems in violent ways. When the stress of life becomes too much, or events at work or home are not going their way, they turn to violence to help them feel better. We hear the stories all the time on the news: the unhappy postal worker who lashes out at co-workers with a gun; the rejected husband or suitor who beat up or kill their girl friends or wives; or even the angry employee who has been let go and takes his frustrations out on innocent passers-by.
Society loves sports and as a result, the fans idolize the athletes, almost as celebrities. Along with this new “celebrity” standing, comes major pressures to always be “perfect” or in the “right”. If the athletes make one mistake or have a bad game, their standing with the fans and their popularity changes negatively, lowering their self-esteem and confidence. In the short story, “The Silent Season of a Hero”, Gay Talese talks of how the former baseball star, Joe DiMaggio felt pressured to always uphold the myth of the “perfect” player with patience (444-445). In the essay, “Kill ‘Em! Crush ‘Em! Eat ‘Em Raw!”, John McMurty, a former professional football player, talks about his experience and injuries during his personal career. He endured many injuries such as broken nose, fingers, jaw, and toes, a dislocated shoulder, pinched nerves, etc. Acquiring injuries such as these tore him and other athletes apart, especially since they felt pressured to continue to play with these injuries because the spectators. The author talks of how people love to see the players “blindsided, clotheslined, or decapitated.” which leads to those injuries that they obtain. The viewers love violence and pain, so “Either you, too, do your very utmost to efficiently smash and be smashed, or you admit incompetence or cowardice and quit.”(Find page
And all the players that arent out there committing crimes and are doing the right thing they themselves need to get upset by the fact that others are giving their sport a bad name. So the players who care need to speak up and save their sports images before its too late. Kids out there already see enough violence in the streets and on t.v. Sports use to be a way to escape all of that and unless things change sports are going to be just like everything else.
Jeff Kemp, a retired professional NFL quarterback, once stated, “Sports teach positive lessons that enrich America even while revealing its flaws” (Kemp). Athletics offer so much more than the joy of game day and the thrill of a win. Being involved in sports holds the key to a world filled with passion, excitement, and once in a lifetime opportunities. There is nothing better than seeing the student section arrive in full force or hearing the school fight song chanted before kickoff. However, when life moves on and leaves sports behind, the lessons it has instilled in athletes never disappears. The play calls may be foggy and the jersey will be too tight, but what was innocently learned in the jersey shines out at an older age. Although life lessons can be learned through everyday activities, lessons such as teamwork, self-confidence, and dealing with failure are only truly learned through sports by young athletes.