We find ourselves in completely uncharted territory here. But the evidence is difficult to ignore.

The effective career and legendary run of Tiger Woods may indeed be over.

I have said before in this space that Tiger Woods doesn’t owe anyone outside of his family any explanation of what transpires in his personal life. My mind hasn’t changed one bit. He hasn’t broken any laws of the land, but has apparently and wantonly broken the vows of marriage and the trust of his wife, family, and legion of loyal fans. He certainly must explain his actions only to his family, and his apparent lack of intelligence and narcissism could cost him a divorce settlement that will make even Heather Mills green with envy. The $50M she landed from Paul McCartney will be cab fare compared to what Elin Nordegren will bank.

Many believe he does owe those fans a “mea culpa”. It would indeed be a good idea, but at the end of the day it’s not something he “owes” anyone outside of those close to him.

It seems that we are engulfed by various reported mistresses of Woods, who now all have some tawdry story to tell. Again, we are talking about stupidity here first and foremost. One would think a guy like Tiger, with so many advisers and handlers, would know better than to leave recorded cell phone messages begging these pseudo-actresses, budding call girls, fame hounds and money-sucking vampirella’s with evidence to back up their cash grab.

And this is where it begins to weave into the competitive future of Tiger Woods.

We as a sporting society have forgiven many an athlete, both college and pro, for a wide-range of transgressions. What was once a death knell for cocaine possession, steroid use, that bag of grass in the luggage, has mostly become little more than a public and sports organization yawn. Get caught. Get busted. Be punished. Serve the sentence and sooner or later you’re back at work.

Even what might be considered heinous crimes are often slapped with a pass card. Former KC Chiefs LB Derrick Thomas is the standard for a sporting deadbeat Dad. At the time of his death, he left behind 7 children fostered with 5 different women. To further prove what a louse he truly was off the football field, he left a fat nothing for every one of these children in his will.

Yet Thomas is viewed with reverence by those who will scream in your face that what a person does off the field makes no difference in their ability to play the game.

Remember that statement. We’ll come back to it.

Same goes for Michael Vick and Glenn Winston. Vick got his jollies out of torturing and executing defenseless animals. Winston, a star RB for Michigan State, senselessly beat up a fellow MSU athlete.

And still the cry was all about how these moronic and dangerous acts reflected nothing about their ability to catch a ball, throw a ball, or make someone rich at the sports books or in a fantasy league.

Both were granted the coveted second chance.

Tiger Woods will get no such pass.

He’s not buried every weekend under a helmet. His season does not last six months or less. His endorsement deals are not limited to the occasional sneaker or fast-food sandwich shop.

And worst of all, he has kept his private life just that way with a zeal that would make Howard Hughes envious. He has been since the first days of a legendary career untouchable, unwavering, and unmistakably perfect. His steely resolve on the golf course is no doubt fostered in part by not having to deal with the media and the public. He feared no intrusion into his private sphere simply because no one could puncture or invade his space.

That luxury is now gone forever.

Athletes in most every other sport are booed and verbally reviled. They are taunted for their foibles in other bedrooms, city streets, social media posts and post game interviews. But they are most often a fair distance from these fanatics and can dismiss any and all comments. If they ever even hear them.

Professional golf is perhaps the most accessible major sport in the world. No other allows the ticket buyers such close personal contact with the athletes. No matter what the PGA or USGA  might try, Tiger will still be within touching distance of every fan. Every potentially foul-mouthed and ill-tempered drunk. Every righteous person who sees screwing around on one’s spouse to be the height of morality abuse.

Tiger will get it up close and personal. Every taunt. Every joke. Every insult. And in an age where some fans all too often take their indignation out on players with more than just words, every potential nut job seeking to make a name for him or herself.

Thanks to his pop status, a media that loves nothing better than to exploit the sexual lives of rich and famous for profit, aided by the tabloid devouring mindless that demand it, Woods will never be allowed to live this down nor given the “second chance” that so many people cry for when athletes of talent make a serious misstep.

And it may affect and subsequently derail his march into history.

Some will call him a coward. Others will say he earned every single slap by cheating on his wife and family. Most, like myself, will feel no real sorrow for heaping it all on himself.

But if indeed it does happen, and for the moment we musty deal only in “if”, the question will have to be posed.

Why other athletes with much greater transgressions were given a second chance, and Tiger Woods was not.

Read all of Ed Berliner's columns, including more on Tiger Woods, here exclusively at Examiner.com.