I'm Just An Athlete: Why It's Time To Stop Deifying Our Heroes

From the start I have to tell you, I am as guilty of this as the next person. I grew up with the photos of my childhood heroes adorning the wall of my bedroom. My biggest hero was Michael Jordan.

To this day, I still believe him to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. I miss his game and his presence as an NBA ambassador and had every intention of naming my first born child after him before my husband politely asked that I abandon the idea because you never can tell what the future may hold for our heroes.

As a mother of two young tots, I now look at the modern athlete with a bit of shameful embarrassment. I think to myself, "Is this the role model I want for my son and daughter? Do these athletes really embody all the beliefs and values that I am trying to instill within them?"

It's at that point that I remember that they aren't supposed to do that. Somewhere along the way, our society, much to the chagrin of some of our most-treasured athletes, decided that in order for you to be successful, you have to be a role model.

They were told that people need to like you in order to buy your brand or purchase a ticket to see you play.

Sports became about money and the athlete became an important commodity.

And we, as consumers, began to make morality and character our basis for deciding who will and will not get our money. There's nothing wrong with that, except for the fact that it builds up regular human beings and in many cases sets them up for a big fall later.

As much as the media spotlight would have us believe it, our athletes are not immune to making mistakes and breaking the rules. We expect them to be perfect because they can play a sport better than we ourselves could ever imagine. And worse than that, we place these very same athletes on a pedestal for our children and say, "Be like xyz or abc and you, too, will be successful."

There's no harm in that, except for the fact that our children stand to hurt the most should their hero disappoint them.

How many Kobe fans cried after the alleged rape charge? What did all the Phelps fans think after the bong incident? Did Magic break a lot of Laker hearts when he announced his HIV status in 1991? How about Jordan once people realized he had a gambling problem? And what of the Michael Vick fans?

Having your hero reveal his humanity isn't fun. It's heartbreaking. It's even moreso when you realize that this won't be the last time she or he breaks your heart. Many of our heroes continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.

The biggest injustice in this is that the media glare allows for them to be repeat offenders. Many of them walk away with minor slaps on the wrists for doing the things that would send you or I to jail.

The modern-day athlete has figured out that his publicity, good or bad, is publicity. His actions may make him a polarizing figure, but it still keeps him at the front of the line come contract time so long as his performance doesn't dip.

Our only recourse against this is to stop buying the product. That happens in some cases, but for the most part, the athlete will still maintain his bread and butter fans, so long as he or she doesn't do anything really awful.

Add to that the scores of us who rationalize this poor behavior by making excuses for him or her. We tell ourselves that it's comforting to know that our heroes can make mistakes. We give them all a mulligan.

We say, "It's alright that you got that DUI," or "It's no big deal that you beat your wife", or "It's understandable that you cheated on your spouse, there's so much temptation." We give a collective pass to all of them because they can play the game.

The unspoken lesson in that is "If you are talented, you won't have consequences." As a woman who lives every day trying to honor and teach the principles of justice, fairness, equality and consequences, I have to say that is deplorable.

As every-day human beings, none of us should be above recrimination. We are usually punished quite swiftly. Why aren't our athletes treated the same? Should their skills really make them immune?

In the end, I think it is important that we not deify any one person for his or her accomplishments because we are all imperfect. However, it is also paramount that we start treating our athletes with the same level of scrutiny that we would the average Joe.

What an object lesson that would be for those who wish to emulate them: Do the crime, do the time.

In the meantime, should we abandon our posters, shoes, jerseys, baseball cards, and autographs? No, not at all. But maybe it is time that we start looking at these players for who and what they really are: persons with an extraordinary talent.

Let's leave the hero title for those who really deserve it: our teachers, soldiers, firefighters, police officers, mothers and fathers.

Are they perfect? No, but that's OK.