Sports Stars Who Get Way Too Much Mainstream Love

Professional athletes care about more than just winning and losing. They are businessmen and businesswomen who seek out contracts, endorsement deals and other lucrative endeavors. This reality is why it is important for certain athletes to have positive relationships with members of the media. 

There is no such thing as bad publicity, goes the old saying, and that mantra has been proved true in the sports world time and time again. Plenty of athletes have, over the years, used the press to remain relevant past their physical primes. For all we know, we could be but a few months away from reading a story about the latest supposed Terrell Owens "comeback" to the National Football League.

Johnny Manziel may never again play in the NFL. Manziel has not joined up with a team since the Cleveland Browns cut him this past March, and thus Manziel is not even, as of the posting of this piece, truly a pro athlete. We are nevertheless treated to stories about Manziel partying seemingly on a weekly basis in 2016. 

It has to stop. 

Retired boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been featured in sports headlines throughout the spring for a rumored fight that may never occur. There is no indication as of the start of June that Cris Justino is willing to do what is necessary to become a champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. We may never again talk about Ryan Fitzpatrick as much as the media has covered the free-agent quarterback this spring. 

Who is to blame for certain athletes receiving more mainstream love than others? All of us, to be honest. A television viewer and/or a reader chooses which athletes attract his attention, and content is created per those decisions. It is a basic model of supply and demand. 

The question does have to be asked: Who among these athletes will no longer be stars in the public eye by the end of the decade?

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Associated Press

The story involving Ryan Fitzpatrick and the New York Jets is played out.

Admit it, diehard football fans. You never would have guessed a year ago that would you care about the plight of free-agent QB Ryan Fitzpatrick as much as you do right now. 

A perfect storm of events helped create the Fitzpatrick saga of 2016. The story involves the New York Jets, a team that plays in the biggest sports market in the United States and a club that has been without a franchise QB since Brett Favre played for Gang Green in 2008. The story features Fitzpatrick, a journeyman 33-year-old QB who happens to be coming off of what was statistically his best season in the NFL. 

It also doesn't hurt that there is not much else to talk about at this point of the NFL calendar.

There is apparently no end to this drama in sight. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reported on May 31 that Fitzpatrick may be willing to take less money to sign with a different team to "spurn" the Jets. 

You may believe that the $12 million guaranteed reportedly offered to Fitzpatrick by the Jets is, as Mehta put it, a "low-ball offer." Still, no reasonable person out there will be confusing the numbers posted by Fitzpatrick in 2015 with stats produced by Tom Brady in his prime or by Cam Newton last season. Let us all not forget how poorly Fitzpatrick played in that Week 17 loss to the Buffalo Bills this past January when a playoff berth for the Jets was on the line. 

History suggests that Fitzpatrick is a better option for the Jets than Geno Smith. Salaries around the NFL indicate that Fitzpatrick deserves more from the Jets than $12 million in guaranteed money. Neither of those statements change the fact that Fitzpatrick probably won't be a NFL Most Valuable Player candidate at any point of his career. 

Fitzpatrick and the Jets need each other this summer. Make up, everybody involved, and let's move on. 

Paige VanZant

Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images

Is Paige VanZant a better dancer than she is a fighter?

It is easy to understand why UFC fighter Paige VanZant received so much mainstream love this spring. The 22-year-old came close to winning the latest edition of Dancing With the Stars. That competition and television show made VanZant a household name among audiences who would otherwise ignore the UFC and mixed martial arts. 

VanZant is also, as Adam K. Raymond of Maxim wrote, a "pretty face." VanZant's cover-model looks and also pictures that she has shared have earned her official Instagram account over 900,000 followers as of June 2. No wonder Raymond speculated near the end of May that UFC boss Dana White could see VanZant as the company's next Ronda Rousey. 

There is one problem: VanZant is not as good a fighter as was Rousey during Rousey's run as UFC champion. 

Rousey was awarded with the UFC Bantamweight Championship when she made the switch from Strikeforce to the UFC in 2012. Rousey had already proved herself in Strikeforce, an she remained an unbeaten MMA fighter up through November 2015 when she lost to Holly Holm. Holm was also undefeated when she beat Rousey at UFC 193. 

VanZant, meanwhile, dropped to 6-2 as a pro after she was dominated by Rose Namajunas this past December, and VanZant currently sits at eighth in the official UFC strawweight rankings. 

There is still, of course, plenty of time for VanZant to improve as a fighter and win a championship in the UFC. Then again, as Raymond mentioned, VanZant agreed to be part of the upcoming Kickboxer: Retaliation movie. Perhaps VanZant will continue to find future roles that don't involve her engaging in actual fights. 

Either way, everybody needs to pump the breaks before crowning VanZant as the next Rousey. 

Matt Harvey

Associated Press

Matt Harvey hasn't been the Dark Knight in some time.

We blame Sports Illustrated and Tom Verducci for this one. 

It was back in May 2013 when an SI magazine cover and story penned by Verducci referred to Matt Harvey as "the Dark Knight of Gotham." Harvey was already a young phenom advertised to be a future ace before Verducci's story saw the light of day. Things changed after that story, though, as fans of the New York Mets flocked to CitiField while wearing Batman gear to watch Harvey pitch. "Harvey Day," the name given to each of Harvey's starts, became an unofficial holiday among the New York faithful. 

The harsh reality is that Harvey has been more hype than proven product since that famous SI piece. Harvey's single appearance in a Major League Baseball All-Star Game, to date, occurred in the summer of 2013 and before Harvey missed an entire season following Tommy John surgery. 

Harvey's struggles throughout the start of the 2016 campaign have been well-documented. Harvey began the year with a 3-7 record gave up 36 earned runs in those starts and he failed to pitch past the sixth inning in each of those 10 games. Harvey was, to his credit, responsible for a gem on Memorial Day. He now has to show that was the beginning of a turnaround to his season. 

Harvey's woes since the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series are only the beginning. Harvey was in the headlines last September when it was widely reported that he could shut himself down after 180 innings of work. 

To compare: Noah Syndergaard, one of four New York starters better than Harvey since April 2016, offered himself for an inning of work out of the bullpen on May 31. 

Harvey has a lot of work ahead of him if he is to rightfully reclaim his Dark Knight reputation. Throwing a complete game and winning that outing would be a solid start. 

J.J. Watt

Associated Press

J.J. Watt is both a great player and also somebody overhyped by certain media members.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand why the media love J.J. Watt. 

To begin with, the Houston Texans defensive end is undeniably great on the field. Watt has won Defensive Player of the Year honors on three occasions, and he has twice led the NFL in sacks. Well-known pictures and video footage of Watt playing while blood dripped from a cut near the top of his nose conjured up mental images of the past and of players from prior football generations. 

You do not have to look far and wide to find Watt in the media. Multiple television commercials featured Watt over the past few NFL seasons. His dating life has made news during NFL offseasons. 

Here is one story you may have missed. 

Five former NFL players came together near the end of May for a NFL.com piece about the "most versatile defensive players" currently in the league. Casual football fans couldn't be blame for thinking Watt would run away with that label. That wasn't the case, though, as only one of the five former players named Watt. Three went with Tyrann Mathieu, and the other picked Mathieu's teammate Patrick Peterson. 

Watt's talents on the field cannot be ignored, but neither can the clear hype machine working to push Watt as the Lawrence Taylor of his Time. Watt may be L.T. 2.0 down the road, but Watt isn't there yet. 

James Harden

Associated Press

James Harden is no longer viewed as an MVP candidate.

We could be on the cusp of a time when James Harden stops receiving so much mainstream love. 

Harden, as AJ Neuharth-Keusch of USA Today Sports wrote about, failed to make any All-NBA Team for the 2015-16 campaign. Harden's absence from those squads may not make sense at first, as he was the second-leading scorer in the NBA. 

Neuharth-Keusch explained why nobody should be surprised Harden failed to earn the necessary votes this time around. 

"

Rationally speaking, the perplexity vanishes. The Rockets were a runaway train from the get-go, and Harden was the conductor. As the go-to guy on a team that suffered such a drastic turnaround, backtracking from the Western Conference finals to a first-round dismantling after barely sneaking into the postseason, did Harden's on-court performance — particularly on the defensive end, where he was oftentimes nowhere to be found — really warrant an All-NBA selection in a league overflowing with multitalented guards?

The results say no.

"

Is Harden as good an all-around player as LeBron James? Can anybody say that Harden is a better shooter or a better ball-handler than Stephen Curry? Would you take Harden over Russell Westbrook or even over Klay Thompson? 

You'll have to answer those questions for yourself. 

Perhaps it is an issue that Harden has earned a reputation for allegedly flopping during games. Neither Harden exaggerating contact to draw fouls during games nor Houston's collapse in 2016 will likely keep Harden from getting mainstream love come the start of the 2016-17 NBA season.

After all, Harden once gave a side-eye during an on-court interview. You can also buy and eat a Harden "gummy beard," per Time.com.

Cris Cyborg

Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images

Cris Cyborg needs to move down to 135 pounds before we care about her UFC career.

Cris Justino is everything a promotion such as the UFC would want in a fighter. Justino has the awesome nickname "Cyborg." She possesses a unique look. She has knockout power, something she demonstrated in her UFC debut last month when she stopped an overmatched Leslie Allen in the first round at UFC 198. There is also the possibility of a dream fight involving Cris Cyborg and Ronda Rousey, a bout fight fans have discussed for years. 

Cyborg continues to be unwilling and/or unable to take the necessary steps to win a title in the UFC, though, and thus she is nothing more than a gimmick in the biggest MMA organization on the planet. 

The UFC has no 145-pound division for female fighters. Cyborg would, thus, have to get down to 135 pounds to fight at the same weight class as Rousey, current UFC Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate and others within the division. Cyborg, per Dann Stupp and Ken Hathaway of MMA Junkie, explained to reporters after her win over Allen that moving down to 135 pounds is not in her foreseeable future. 

“I believe I can do other super fights,” Justino said. “But I’m going to continue in my weight class. I’ve been a champion (in Strikeforce and Invicta) for some time, and I want female MMA to grow, and I don’t think it’s the right thing for me to abandon my weight class.”

Fighters fight to make money. That shouldn't be lost on anybody. Money, however, would be all that Tate, Rousey, Holly Holm and anybody else hoping to hold the bantamweight title would have to gain in moving up to fight Cyborg. To put it another way: How did moving up to fight Nate Diaz work out for Conor McGregor earlier this year?

Passionate fans and media members desire to see exciting fights. They, thus, understandably want to watch Cyborg face off with the best opponents in the world. Unless she shows that he can consistently make weight at 135 pounds, though, Cyborg should quickly become old news as it pertains to the UFC. 

Christian Pulisic

Colin E. Braley/Associated Press

Is Christian Pulisic a future star, a future flop or will he fall somewhere in the middle?

Don't do it, American media and United States Soccer fans. Don't even be tempted to do it. 

This is not at all meant to be criticism of Christian Pulisic. The 17-year-old who plays for Borussia Dortmund recently opened his senior international account when he scored in a 4-0 USA win over Bolivia in a pre-Copa America tune-up. Pulisic, referred to as a "phenom" by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News last month, may very well have the goods to be a superstar for club and for national team. 

We've been here before, everybody, and Pulisic deserves better from us. 

You know the tale of Freddy Adu. Adu, placed in a commercial with Pele as a teenager, never came close to being a once-in-a-generation player after debuting for Major League Soccer side D.C. United. Following his stint in MLS, Adu became a journeyman overseas, and he now plays for the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League. 

Landon Donovan scored arguably the greatest goal in U.S. Soccer history at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Donovan also failed to land a long-term home in the Bundesliga. Clint Dempsey had a solid career in England, but Dempsey never earned the "savior" label bestowed upon Adu and, more recently, Pulisic. 

The legend of Pulisic will only grow if he has a couple of special performances during the upcoming Copa America. Fans and media alike should remember that it will not be until next decade before we know, for sure, whether Pulisic can routinely hang in the German top-flight and in meaningful international competitions. 

Keep the hype surrounding Pulisic to a minimum for now. 

Floyd Mayweather

Associated Press

Floyd Mayweather should stay retired.

Maybe cynics and critics will be proved right. Maybe, just maybe, Floyd Mayweather and current UFC champion Conor McGregor will somehow work things out and have a real fight before the end of 2016. 

If not, though, the fighters and some within the media will have generated a lot of buzz for nothing. 

It makes sense that both Mayweather and McGregor would want to tease this match for as long as possible. Mayweather, reportedly retired from the ring, lost his luster among paying boxing fans. ESPN Senior Writer Dan Rafael reported in September 2015 that the fight involving Mayweather and Andre Berto was a financial flop. That occurred after Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao disappointed viewers with a lackluster bout in May of last year. 

McGregor, meanwhile, continues to be involved in a public spat with the UFC over money. 

Daniel Roberts of Deadspin believes a Mayweather-McGregor fight will never happen. Luke Kerr-Dineen of USA Today Sports blog For the Win recently wrote the same. McGregor is still signed to the UFC, and he is the reigning UFC Featherweight Champion. 

As long as some within mainstream media continue to run with stories and rumors about this fight, though, Mayweather will remain in headlines. 

Tiger Woods

Associated Press

The Tiger Woods of old is gone, and he may never return.

Death, taxes and the mainstream media loving Tiger Woods for as long as he remains a public person. You can set your watches to all three. 

John Strege of Golf Digest explained this past April why that is the case. 

"In the first round of the Masters on Thursday, ESPN drew a 1.7 rating, averaging 2.398 million viewers, according to Nielsen Fast National numbers. That was down from a 2.2 and 3.218 million viewers last year, with Woods in the field."

Those who run the PGA and who are in charge of sports TV networks that air golf tournaments continue to hope that Woods has one more significant run left in the tank before the all-time great rides off into the sunset. Those dreams seem to dwindle with every passing month.

Neil Greenburg of the Washington Post wrote this April that it may be unrealistic to expect Woods to ever again win a tournament. Woods hinted, when speaking with the Washington Post in May, that attempting to make a return from a third back surgery may ultimately not be worth the trouble. 

“It’s brutal,” he said. “Do I want to go through that whole process again, of getting back? Some part of me said yes. Some part of me said no, because it is hard.”

All would do well to read the writing on the wall and stop speculating on if Woods will ever be the player of old. Instead, let's all wait to see if Woods ever again makes it through a round of a meaningful tournament. 

Johnny Manziel

Associated Press

Johnny Manziel no longer deserves any mainstream love.

Unless you choose to ignore sports and somehow accidentally stumbled all the way to this portion of the piece, you are probably at least somewhat familiar with the story of former Cleveland Browns QB Johnny Manziel. 

Manziel became a college football icon during his days at Texas A&M. The undersized QB routinely left it all out on the field, he won the Heisman Trophy as a freshman and he famously carried the Aggies on his back to a comeback victory over Duke in his last game before entering the NFL. The Browns drafted Manziel in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft, but they also released him in March 2016. 

There is now no reason to believe Manziel will be on any NFL roster in 2016. 

Manziel has been dropped by a pair of agents this year, and he became the first player ever fired by famous agent Drew Rosenhaus. Manziel could be punished by the NFL regarding an alleged domestic violence case involving the 23-year-old QB and Colleen Crowley, Manziel's ex-girlfriend. 

The state of Manziel's career is but an afterthought as summer approaches. 

Manziel's father reached out to the Dallas Morning News in February to publicly express concerns that his son "won't live to see his 24th birthday." TMZ Sports reported on May 24 that certain friends of Manziel are worried "he's going to die unless something changes soon." 

Manziel is not a pro athlete right now. That seems unlikely to change any time soon. The immediate hope moving forward is that this story will not end in tragedy.