Every fanatic has his or her favorite team. The team they cheer for win or lose, and the colors that run with their blood, sweat and tears. They look forward to the seasons not just for the weather, but also for their favorite pastime football, baseball, or soccer. Over 90 percent of Americans watch sports, that means that 90 percent of them look up to and respect athletes. Ranging from adults to little kids, someone somewhere wants to be just like their favorite player. Every move made by a professional athlete is watched; however, when an athlete does something that is illegal the repercussions are not as extreme as the ones for non-athletes.
At a young age, most children have a dream of becoming a professional athlete, whether it is to become a football or baseball player, the dreams are still the same. If asked who their hero is many will say their mom, or their dad, but many will also name their favorite player. Nevertheless, what happens when a player is dropped from the team for rape, drug convictions, or something as simple as a traffic violation? A younger child might not understand as much as a teenager, but what their seeing is their role model driving while intoxicated, or being arrested for having a gun or drugs, possibly even both. Now, a child who wants to be just like Joe Smuck thinks it is "cool" to do drugs, drink, and party, all because they did it and got away with it. .
Every day on the news there is some major controversy involving a professional athlete. Whether it is being arrested for domestic violence, or being looked at for illegal use of steroids their names are plastered everywhere. Becoming famous means that every mistake you make will be published, unless of course you have a superb agent who can cover it up for you. According to an article in The Post Game, "One in every 45 National Football League players (2.2 percent) is arrested. The national arrest rate is one in 23 (4.
