Athletes: Are They Really Role Models for Kids?

Everyone has their favorite sports to watch whether it be NASCAR, football or baseball. You probably even have a favorite driver whether it is Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart, or a favorite player like Tom Brady or Shane Victorino. You probably have even thought one time or another about what it would be like to have these people’s jobs. But how much do you actually know about the people you look up to?

Professional Athletes are not perfect. Take Michael Vick for instance. In April 2007 he was associated with an illegal dog fighting ring that ran for five years. In August 2007 he pleaded guilty to the charges and was suspended from the NFL indefinitely. He served eighteen months in federal prison and now is playing with the Philadelphia Eagles.

NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield is indefinitely suspended from NASCAR in May with a slim chance of ever coming back to the popular racing sport. On July 1, 2009 a federal judge lifted the suspension temporarily. Then on July 15, 2009, Mayfield failed yet another drug test suspending him again.

Baseball players Manny Ramirez (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Alex Rodriguez (New York Yankees) both admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. They are both still playing baseball.

NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon is one of the best NASCAR drivers in history but he did not finish high school. He is still able to win and earn a living though.

So, athletes are not perfect, but what are they teaching their young fans? That it’s ok to break the law and do drugs or its ok to do stuff you know is not right, or not to stay in school. The fans watch them and think they are the greatest people in the world. Still, they do appearances and tell students they shouldn’t do what they did because they know first-hand what the consequences are, and that takes a lot of courage and strength to do that. So in some aspect, they are role models and are teaching kids to do the right things. Yes athletes are good role models, but at times they get too much credit because of the illusion that they have to be part of a perfect image.