Chase Utley: The Ideal Role Model

     How many times do professional athletes garner attention for all the wrong reasons?  Athletes such as Barry Bonds, Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, Chris Henry, Mark McGwire, Carmelo Anthony, and Pac Man Jones gained publicity more for their off the field issues than they did for their in-game performances. 

     Athletes are meant to be seen wearing their jersey, warm-ups or Wrangler jeans (there's always room for a Brett Favre compliment), not on the steps leading to a court house wearing a suit. 

    Barry Bonds is not supposed to testify before Congress.  Pac Man Jones is not supposed to have more mug shots than media guide photos.  Terrell Owens is not supposed to be doing sit-ups outside of his thirty-million dollar mansion, because I'm sure there's a room inside where he could be doing them. 

     However, there are those athletes that know their place.  There are those athletes that don't look at their sport as a business but rather as the same game they loved when they were toddlers.  It is thanks to these athletes that role models still exist.  Otherwise, Charles Barkley could have spoken on everyone's behalf.

     Now, I know we're only two and a half months into the baseball season, but Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies can't be denied.  He is off to one heck of a start and the MVP talk is already beginning.  Let me ask you something, have you ever heard Chase Utley speak?  What's his voice even sound like?  I'm sure he's given tons of interviews, but how does he stay so quiet?

     Can a superstar have a minor personality?

     I guess so.  Utley is currently leading the N.L. All-Star balloting but he doesn't need it.  He's already dealing with All-Stars.  Just take a look at his charity, "Utley Animal All-Stars." Chase and his wife Jenn love animals dearly.  They are also proud supporters of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 

    You mean Chase doesn't participate in dog or cock fights?  Nope, that's the one time his voice can actually be heard.

     Chase tries to live life according to what his father told him: "If you're really good at something, you don't have to tell people.  They will tell you." 

     Doesn't look like Chase will have any youtube videos out this summer pleading for All-Star votes.  He'll most likely be driving his hybrid car to some convention about global warming.  Or maybe he'll spend an evening with his wife and their seven month old puppy of whom they paid the medical bills and rehabilitation after it was beaten and tortured. 

    Whatever he does, he'll be doing it the only way he knows how: the right way. 

     If there is one athlete to look up to, it is Chase Utley.  Not just as an athlete, but as an all around remarkable human being.