Is Bryce Harper Becoming Sports' Next Loveable Villain?

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper is the kind of player about whom everyone has an opinion, be it positive or negative. 

There is a very polarizing element to Harper that some will gravitate toward, like the way he plays the game and that youthful energy he brings to the field. We want to see athletes who give their all and do what it takes to help a team win games while at the same time keeping their head down so as to not "ruffle feathers." 

Others will see the reckless abandon Harper plays with, the eye black he used to wear that looked like the Ultimate Warrior's face paint and the ridiculous haircuts, as well as incidents like Tuesday night when he admired a home run against Atlanta, as signs that this is the kind of player they would root for if he were on their team but can't help but boo because there is an arrogance they just can't stand. 

Harper is hardly the first athlete to have this kind of polarizing personality. Just look at the way the vultures turned on Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig after he didn't acknowledge Luis Gonzalez before a game against Arizona earlier this season. 

But being the "loveable villain" is a tough task that very few in sports have been able to pull off successfully. There is a fine line that one has to walk to avoid being a Barry Bonds type of villain who garners no sympathy. 

For instance, LeBron James was one of the most hated athletes in this country after the debacle that was The Decision when he decided to sign with the Miami Heat in a nationally televised special. There was no love coming his way from any corner of the world. 

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports wrote a piece on Nov. 30, 2010 saying that James was basically the most evil, selfish athlete in the history of the world:

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Only now, it’s clear James is influencing Wade. With Udonis Haslem out for the regular season, the locker room misses one of its vital voices. Now, Wade is struggling on the floor and James is the devil on his shoulder, whispering that he doesn’t need to be accountable, that there’s an easy fall guy for everyone: Spoelstra.

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A few months later, Scoop Jackson of ESPN wrote that James was embracing his role as the biggest villain in sports. 

Yet after winning back-to-back NBA championships, another MVP award and being crowned one of the best pure talents in the history of the sport, James has gone from being vilified to idolized in three years. No one wants to root against him anymore because there is nothing to root against. 

Harper doesn't elicit the kind of venom James did after fleeing Cleveland, but he could fall into a category with athletes like Kobe Bryant. 

There aren't people who actively root against Bryant to fail because he is fascinating to watch, but there are certain aspects of his character and personality that rub people the wrong way. That is also a reason some fans can't help but cheer for him. 

Bryant has an attitude where he really doesn't care what you think about him or the way he plays. He has no problem getting in the face of an opponent to talk trash or a teammate to tell them what they are doing wrong. 

It can be exhausting to be around that kind of personality for a long stretch. We saw what happened to Dwight Howard, who was traded to Los Angeles last summer and paired with Bryant—he bolted from Hollywood to Houston, a move that shocked the Lakers because no one ever leaves them. 

But there is another reason that Bryant falls into the "loveable villain" category: He backs it up on the court. No one is going to deny that Bryant is an all-time-great NBA superstar who will do anything and everything it takes to win. 

Not all "loveable villains" have the same personality. Think of someone like Ray Lewis, who can be as grating and annoying as any athlete in the world when he gets interviewed because he has a very unique way of talking where everything becomes some pseudo-motivational speech. 

Think back to Baltimore's run to a Super Bowl last January. Lewis was getting all the attention because he was retiring after the season, and when a game ended, there was a microphone for him to spread his breath-heavy word to anyone listening. 

Yet when we watched Lewis on the field, even in the final years when it was clear he lost a step and struggled in his pursuit of running backs he used to destroy with ease, he was a fascinating player to watch and, at his peak, as good as anyone to play the linebacker position. 

Harper seems to have that kind of aura around him. He was given the cover of Sports Illustrated at the age of 16, when no one knew who he was because amateur baseball in this country gets virtually no coverage except the one month where ESPN shows the College World Series. 

The idea of a high school baseball player being on the cover of the biggest sports magazine in the nation likely caused a stir among people, especially when they saw the headline calling him "Baseball's LeBron."

Then Harper decided to get his GED and go to a junior college in order to enter the draft early, which could have painted him as someone who didn't really care about school and took education as a joke. 

After the Nationals made Harper the No. 1 pick, there was the incident where he blew a kiss to an opposing pitcher in a Low-A game after hitting a home run. He was painted as evil for doing so because it was showing up a player in a low-level game.

Michael Hurley of NESN wrote that Harper showed "great immaturity" and would have to "conquer" those issues after blowing that kiss:

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Harper, playing for Single-A Hagerstown, homered on Monday night. He slowly took seven steps, flicked his bat aside and admired his homer, and as he trotted from third to home, he blew a kiss toward the pitcher.

The kid, no doubt, will be great, but he needs to get a little less excited for his Single-A accomplishments. Pretty sure they don't read those at your Hall of Fame induction.

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Of course, no one really knows what led up to that incident. There was chatter (that has gone largely unreported) after it happened that the pitcher was actually doing his own taunting before Harper hit a home run. 

But it is that kind of thing, as well as the posing after hitting a homer off Julio Teheran, that leads to a lot of backlash against Harper. (No one says anything when David Ortiz, who admires his homers more than anyone in baseball today, flips his bat and walks all the way to first base before starting to trot.)

And there is nothing wrong with Harper being a villain-esque player that fans root against but are constantly drawn to because of the things he can do on the field. It's just strange to think that he is only 20 years old because we have heard about him for the last five years. 

After that home run Tuesday night, Harper passed Ken Griffey Jr. for the third-most career long balls by a player under the age of 21 (39). 

Harper is going to keep getting better and better as he adjusts to the speed of the game and reaches his physical peak over the next five years, putting him on a path very similar to what we have seen from players like Bryant and Lewis. 

People are always going to tune in for Harper because of his natural talent and to see what he will do in a given situation. But a lot of those people are going to resent him while they are watching because they don't care for his attitude, or the way he carries himself, or any number of reasons that fans think the way they do. 

There is nothing wrong with that, either. As we have seen in movies, television and sports throughout the years, the villains can be easier to root for than the good guys. 

If you want to talk baseball, feel free to hit me up on Twitter with questions or comments. 

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