One of the saddest things in sports is to see great athletes have their outstanding athletic accomplishments and talents overshadowed by their immaturity, self-indulgence and stupidity. The sports landscape is littered with athletes who cheated, beat their girlfriend and wives, did drugs and got caught, killed others, thought they were above the law and were otherwise a stain on society. Throwing ones life away is ridiculous. Throwing ones life away that is full of rewards, financially and personally, is just plain stupid.
There are many examples of that stupidity when you think of it. Olympic athletes losing their medals and banned from competition for taking banned substances and trying to beat the testing system. Pete Rose breaking baseball's most stringent rule about not betting on baseball. Rae Carruth murdering his pregnant girlfriend because he didn't want to meet his obligations. Athletes in all sports shirking their moral, societal and financial responsibilities for caring for children they've fathered. Steve Howe being suspended eight times by Major League Baseball for doing drugs. Chris Webber allegedly taking money from a University of Michigan booster and then recently lying about it to a grand jury. Nate Newton and Bam Morris arrested on drug charges. Allen Iverson in and out of trouble. And the latest good athlete gone bad is Randy Moss, who either didn't understand or simply didn't want to or didn't think traffic laws applied to him. I think you get my point.
There are an appalling and growing number of athletes who are simply making stupid life decisions that jeopardize their "once in a lifetime" opportunities. At first thought, one would think the problems athletes get themselves into are no worse then society in general. But, that's not true and the statistics back that up. For an eye-opening glimpse into how big the problem is in the NFL, I recommend you read Don Yeager and Jeff Benedict's book, Pros and Cons, the Criminals Who Play in the NFL. In 1997, the authors began compiling a computerized list which identified the names of the approximately 1,590 players who played in the NFL during the 1996-1997 season, then added names of the players from the 1997 draft. They then set out to identify how many of those players had a criminal record. A study such as this had never been undertaken before. Ultimately, of the nearly 1,590 players from that season, there were 509 players whose criminal histories were sufficiently researched to form the sample base for the study. Of these 509 players, 109 players were formally charged with a serious crime. That's an unbelievable 21% of those players studied. Serious crimes included murder, rape, kidnapping, assault, domestic violence, drug offenses, illegal use or possession of a weapon, DUI, and resisting arrest. The authors say, "Simply put, the number of crimes and criminals recorded here are conservative. And this fact remains: at least 21% of the men from the most visible class of role models in America have been charged with a serious crime".
Yeager and Benedict's conclusion was obvious; "NFL teams are recruiting a new breed of criminal players, the likes of which should disturb all NFL fans. Gone are the good old days of NFL recruits having rap sheets detailing merely drunken brawls and vandalism. In are the days of lethal violence, rape, armed robbery, home invasion, kidnapping, and drug dealing".
What's troubling to me is this study details only football. All sports have similar problems-- with the numbers I'm sure varying only to a small degree. And, even more troublesome is the knowledge that these problems exist at the college level. The breeding ground for athletes' cheating, drug use, violence and general law breaking is planted long before they reach pro sports. Case in point: Lawrence Phillips. The Nebraska running back was in and out of trouble while he was at Nebraska. His assault of his college girl friend should have been a sure problem sign and a call for immediate action. Instead, he was allowed to continue to play, receive positive reinforcement for his on-field achievements and not pay the price or get help for his obvious problems. Instead, he was passed on to the next level of athletic indifference, the NFL, where Phillips repeated his acts of irresponsibility. Last we heard of Phillips, he was trying to earn a paycheck in the CFL.
The reasons for the problem are complex. The solutions are probably impossible. When seeking out the reasons, there are the obvious ones: 1) society in general, 2) the lack of family role models, 3) too many one parent families, 4) money, 5) arrogance and 6) just plain stupidity. The not so obvious reasons is our love affair with winners, a win at all cost attitude, a glorification and coddling of athletes all along the way, and the overall over importance we put on sports.
When it comes to a solution, this horse is probably out of the barn. The only ideas I have are common sense ones. It starts with parents who have athletically talented kids who might have that golden chance to play professional sports. Keep them grounded and focused about what they play and who they are as people. That sport is but a part of their lives and not the most important part. Youth, high school and college coaches need to see kids as people and not a commodity. Spot troubled kids early and get them help. Let them know their wrong actions come at a price. Don't be willing to look the other way on their transgressions just because they have talents that can help the team. The media needs to temper their glorification of sports and athletes with a realization that it comes at a human cost and that cost should be emphasized as much as the glory and money an athlete makes. The athletes need to recognize that playing sports is but a small part of their life picture. Sooner or later it will be over with and they must get on with their lives. How they do it will depend on how they live their life when they're playing. Stupid life choices anytime equal bad consequences all the time. As they say, "You can either pay now, or pay later". And, finally, we all need to keep things in perspective. While winning is important, the bigger goal should be the effort. That these players are people not machines. Our expectations of them shouldn't be any higher then of ourselves.
The optimist in me hopes we'll at least stem the tide of out of control athletes and out of control sports. The realist in me says it will never happen. We're too far gone. Hopefully, somewhere in between is an answer we can live with. One that lets athletes be productive people on and off the field, especially long after the final whistle or gun has gone off. The alternative is scary.
I feel better now.
I'm Ron Barr.
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