As a sports fan, Division III athlete, and human being, there is nothing more annoying to watch than an athlete who can't seem to hold themselves together on and off the field. Whether its arguing with the referees, tripping other athletes, bad-mouthing fans, or abusing their teammates in the locker room, these are athletes who everyone just hates. Whether its high-level collegiate or professional sports, we see the arrogant-looking, whining, over-emotional male and female athletes being the absolute epitome of what our society hates about top-tier professional sports. These athletes, with their high-end scholarships(Division I and II collegiate athletes) and their lavishly signed contracts that promises them hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, come across to us "normal folk" as spoiled, ego-tactical pricks who feel entitled to whatever they want because of their other-worldly athletic abilities.
Their reputation, their careers, and their physical/mental well being are not the only thing that is being damaged by their actions, but are also affecting the reputation and careers of everyone who is associated with them. From a fan's perspective, these individuals show a lack of self-control and professionalism.
Here are several things to consider when you watch a fine or suspension given to an athlete that couldn't hold it together.
The influence of the media is over daunting.
Let's face it, the media is everywhere. Whether its on your local news channel or your favorite online blog, it is practically impossible to avoid media outlets. It is even harder to avoid the media when you are a professional athlete/high level collegiate player, as the level of popularity of high-performing sports teams always provides media outlets with lots of business. Professional athletes/ high level collegiate athletes are constantly bombarded with interviews, press conference, media days, and commercial endorsements to represent their respective teams and promote their character as athletes, along with raising a ton of money to support athletic brands and investment in team activities. With this constant exposure to public scrutiny and scrutiny from their coaches/owners, athletes get "judged" based on their ability to display emotional and physical maturity when they are exposed to media coverage. Since not all athletes have the emotional control to present a calm, reasonable demeanor in front of several interviewers and reporters at all given moments, it isn't surprising that athletes may come across as humble one day and arrogant the next. While professional and high level collegiate athletes are expected to act professionally, the media doesn't always give them their day in court.
Athletes play more with passion more than their head.
This should go with out saying, but professional athletes are the epitome of competitive nature. Whether its with promise of receiving large contracts from winning games or competing for a championship, teams, owners, and athletes are always looking for a way succeed at the highest possible level regardless of cost. Given the amount of physical, emotional, and mental pain associate with the pressure/ stress of high-level completion, it has become "normal' for athletes to suffer concussions, torn ligaments, and broken bones in the pursuit of winning a title. Given this competitive nature, athletes will by nature display incredibly high levels of passion and emotional in order to fuel this competitive nature. While athletes are constant thinking and reacting to quick, high- pressure situations, it is impossible to expect athletes to have level- headed thinking at every moment in a game.
When I had a conversation with one of my buddies from St. Thomas, he once told me that him and a group of other guys conducted an experiment with a coach at a Christian training group. The coach asked my friend and the other players to play a game of basketball without any passion, outward emotion, or display any sort of intense competition. They would only play the game silently, slowly, and complete level-headed thinking. The way my friend described, was that it was the worst game of pick-up basketball that he ever played. Nobody was making shots, there were constant turnovers, it was an awful game. The point of that experiment, was that it was impossible to play at your absolute best without passion and competition. While my friend is not a professional athlete, the fact that he is a solid athlete who plays Division III college ball shows that passion is needed to play sports at the highest levels possible for humans. The bottom line is, is that high-caliber athletes play with an intense, burning desire to succeed and their passion is through the roof, and it gets to the point where they lose control and it becomes too much, leading to often times erratic behavior.
Expectations are high and allow little room for error.
Face it, when your job, salary, and lifestyle is based upon your team's success, winning can easily becomes everything. While athletes who succeed receive rings, trophies, lavish contracts, athletes who don't face salary deduction, free agency, and even risk getting cut from the team altogether. While athletes who choose to act poorly on and off the field face suspensions, fines, and public scrutiny, I find that all of the athletes such as Cam Newton and Richard Sherman who are criticized for on and off the field. a They all show an intense desire to succeed and being the best person.Both Sherman and Newton are considered to be leaders of their respective organizations(Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks respectively), but they don't always seem to be the perfect role models and team visionaries that they are expected to be. While both Sherman and Newton are both athletes of outstanding moral character with plently of evidence to back it, they are know for being hot-heads when it comes to the media. The fact of the matter is, is that the media essentialy controls our window into the life of professional athletes, and at times does not always present the full picture when it comes to the burden that all professional/ high-collegiate athletes go through. The end result is, that athletes who are trying everything they can to fufill the expectations they are expected to keep, are being under-valued and under-credited for the work they have done.
To sum up the previous three points into one final statement, professional and high level-collegiate athletes are being forced to meet media, team, and fan expectations without always having he emotional control to handle themselves in public. While there are some athletes are legitelly terrible people whose commit crimes and violate their professional legues conduct policy, this article was meant to gravitate towards athletes who are hot-headed towards the media and are known for having played dirty in several games. I'm not trying to convince anyone that they should like or appreciate players who can't hold themselves together, but rather give a perspective into the background of these athletes. In the end, just remember that everyone is fighting a battle that we know nothing about, and this applies to professional/ high level collegiate athletes who seem to have the weight of the world resting on their shoulders.
