Sports Heroes: Do They Even Exist Anymore?

A lot of kids growing up idolized their favorite players.  Derek Jeter, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan are a few notable players.  For me it was Jim Kelly.  You adored and revered them and wanted to be like them.  Sometimes, the players that we look up to don't turn out the way we think they are.  In baseball, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, and especially Roger Clemens were popular players in the 80s and 90s but the revelation that they took steroids hurt their image especially in Clemens' case where he has put up Hall of Fame numbers but has now seen his legacy tainted.  Canseco released a book blowing the door wide open on the issue and has seen his public image deteriorate.

OJ Simpson was a very successful player in the NFL who parlayed his fame into movies and reporting.  His infamous 1994 police chase and subsequent trial and acquittal shed light on a different man.  He was no longer OJ the football player but OJ the alleged murderer.  Even after his acquittal, he tried to restore his image but to no avail.  His most recent arrest and incarceration in a botched robbery attempt has hurt him even more.

Ben Roethlisberger has won two Super Bowls but a recent sexual assault charge has shown a much different person.  The most popular and successful golfer in the world, Tiger Woods, saw a sex scandal end his marriage and reveal another side that no one knew about.

Sports Heroes.  Do they even exist anymore? It seems like we really don't who is who.  The real good guys are fading away. Sports have become more about greed and popularity and being #1.  Charles Barkley admitted years ago that he's no role model.  At least he was honest about it.  Today's youth is better off looking up to real heroes like soldiers, firemen, and policemen.  Sports today is not what is was like back in the old days when players played for the love of the game and they were known for what they did on the field then off it.  Despite all this, there does exist genuine good guys in today's sports. So all hope isn't lost.  Cheers to the good guys in sports. They make is all worthwhile.