These words have been making news headlines for decades. Recently however, these words have been making sports headlines. Reports of athletes misbehaving is becoming a regularity these days. Sometimes you can't tell whether you're reading the sports pages or the crime report. Even more appalling is the number of cases where athletes have gotten minor or no penalty for their actions. Our champion athletes are definitely not champion role models. Sports figures should be held accountable for their actions and should be punished according to the severity of the act performed. There should be no tolerance.
Many people blame the "system" which pays athletes exorbitant salaries and provides instant celebrity and privilege. The athletes become spoiled and quickly learn to feel entitled to get what they want when they want it. Critics of the system also point out that wealthy athletes can afford expensive defense attorneys who manipulate the courts to dismiss charges or reduce penalties against them. And the fans are very forgiving, willing to overlook "mistakes" made by their sports idols.
It is argued that being a role model isn't part of the professional athlete's job. Charles Barkley once quoted, "As an athlete my concern isn't to be a role model to somebody else's child. As a parent I pray that I can be a positive role model to my child, and I'm certainly not looking to other adults to be role models for my children. We do have a responsibility to society as role models, but as athletes our number one concern must be our performance on the field. That's what we're being paid to do." However, as someone in the spotlight to thousands of children and teens it is important to show that there is more to being an athlete than image and fame. It takes hard work and dedication to get into sports and there are consequences if you make the wrong decisions. Something that we do not see in sports today.