It's Time To Stop Judging Athletes By Their Cover

What do Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Phelps, and Tiger Woods all have in common?

They make up a very elite group of American sports icons.

Of course, throughout history many other elite athletes have come and gone. But these six men can be considered true sports icons.

Unlike ESPN, who ranked Secretariat in front of Mickey Mantle on their list of the 100 greatest athletes of all time, this list is excluding horses and other barnyard animals.

Aside from being sports icons, what else do these six men have in common?  

That right, they have all been involved in embarrassing off-the-field scandals.

Babe Ruth—womanizer, heavy drinker and gambler.

Muhammad Ali—a big-time womanizer.

Michael Jordan—a womanizer and gambler.

Wayne Gretzky—allegedly involved in a gambling ring.

Michael Phelps—bong hits.

Tiger Woods—a womanizer.

You see Tiger Woods is just the latest member of this elite club to find himself caught in the middle of an embarrassing scandal.

Woods’ off-the-field activities actually fit in very nicely with the rest of these men.

It seems as if being an American sports icon is like being part of an exclusive fraternity; one where you not only have to dominate your chosen sport to gain entry into, but you also have to be involved in at least one embarrassing scandal during the course of your career.

So what does this tell us about our most prized athletes?

Well it tells us that aside from watching them perform on the athletic field, and listening to them speak during 40 second post-game interviews, we know absolutely nothing about what these men do during the 95 percent of their time spent away from the public eye.

What does LeBron James do during those 21 hours per day he’s not on the basketball court?

What does Derek Jeter do during those fourth months that make up baseball’s off-season?

What does Phil Mickelson do during those 35 weeks per year he’s not participating in golf tournaments?

Unless you happen to stalk these men 24 hours per day, we have absolutely no idea what they do, how they act and what interests they peruse away from the athletic field.

How LeBron James acts during those 21 hours per day he’s not on the basketball court is the true LeBron James, and is the LeBron James that the general public will never know.

Phil Mickelson might very well be a great guy and a true family man. But we shouldn’t base that view solely on the fact that he hugs his wife after tournaments and spends 20 minutes per day signing autographs.

In modern day professional sports there is a tremendous amount of money available in off-the-field endorsements.

However, companies don't want to just sponsor successful athletes, they want to sponsor successful athletes who also come across as good people.

That more or less means that millions of dollars are riding on these athlete’s ability to put forward a decent family man persona.

How easy is that to fake?

Well, being that we only see professional basketball players for around three hours every other night, or professional golfers for around four hours per day 15 weeks per year, it’s not nearly as difficult as one may assume.

Heck, how many of you out there act differently around the office than you do when you’re at home with your friends and family?

Which personality is really you—the work you, or the home you?

It’s no different for professional athletes. Their earnings are based on the way they perform at their ‘offices’ and the image they put forth during those few hours they are in the public eye.

That’s not to say that there aren’t any great athletes who are also great people, because there are.

Although it may not seem like it these days, not every public figure is a phony.  There are some decent ones left.

But there’s an old English idiom that says “don’t judge a book by its cover.”

And when it really comes down to it, we know very little about the professional athletes we are continually propping up on the role model pedestal other than the ‘cover’ they want us all to see and believe in.