Kyle Kucharz

Sport and Society

Dr. Marx Scheuerell
12/1/2016

Role Models

Question: Should we allow our children to view professional athletes as role models?

Growing up every child has a role model, and majority of those role models happen to be

athletes. Whether it is a basketball player idolizing Lebron James, a baseball player looking up to

Mike Trout, or a soccer player wanting to be like Megan Rapinoe these athletes are always being

idolized. But are these athletes worth idolizing? Are they showing on and off the field what a

professional athlete should act like? Should we even allow our kids to play sports in general?

These are all sociological issues that are faced in the world of sports.

In todays society many parents overlook the values that competitive sports offer. Some

parents choose not to let their kids play sports due to contact, dealing with losing, social

interaction or other reasons but really they are missing out on a lot of key values. Some of these

key values consist of honesty, teamwork, fair play, respect and others. It is possible to teach your

children these values outside of sports but they are not doing it in a social class of their own

which can be in issue. Younger children need to interact with others in their age group, it is part

of proper development as a child and pulling them away from this can be an issue. Putting kids

into different sports allows them to socialize and learn how to interact and almost be on their

own at a young age which can help them develop as well. All of these key values come from

sports which shows their major importance in society.

Throughout the history of children playing sports we have seen a few issues that have

come about due to their activity. The major issue that has come about is brain damage or

paralyzation. One specific example would be football, where one fatal hit could cost a child
serious issues later in life. When issues like this come about coaching should be to blame rather

than the sport itself. If a child is not taught to tackle properly then the risk of an improper hit and

injury is much higher. Their are other external factors to blame rather than just the sport itself

and parents seem to overlook that which is what gives sports somewhat of a bad reputation.

When we do have our children participating in sports they are always going to be drawn

to a favorite, and that specific sport always has a current athletic icon that they look up to. This

athlete could be an amazing role model and play maker on the field, but are they off the field.

With social media today almost everything is caught on camera, especially with the celebrities

and athletes. Making sure your child is viewing an athlete or role model that is successful both

on and off the field is very important.

An example here would be Johnny Manziel, an amazing collegiate quarterback and

heisman trophy winner on the field. Off the field he was known for his intense partying, night

club spotting, and run-ins with the law. Manziel was a great gifted athlete that many kids looked

up to, wanting to make similar plays on the field and be a quarterback that can make plays not

only with his hands but his feet as well. That is someone to look up to on the field, but off the

field is something they need to stay away from.

Every professional athlete has a personal life and likes to enjoy themselves from time to

time whether it be staying at home with their family, or going downtown with some friends to

enjoy themselves. What happens during these times is their own business and it is the publics job

to respect that, outside of the paparazzi of course. But when your personal life outside of sports

becomes major headlines in tomorrows newspaper about what you did last night; that becomes a

little concerning. Especially when you have numerous kids and young adults who look up to you

watching your every move.

 Off the field Johnny Manziel is an entirely different person than what sports fans are used

to seeing every Sunday. Manziel is notoriously known for his extravagant lifestyle outside of

football which consists of partying, going to nightclubs, going home with strangers, and even

disobeying coaching and management orders close to game days. Dating some of the issues and

allegations Manziel has run into date back to his collegiate career in 2012 where he was charged

with three misdemeanors which included disorderly conduct, failure to identify, and possession

of a fictitious drivers license(Myerberg). There are many other issues that Manziel has had to

deal with up to this current day, and having many headlining criminal stories every year since

2012. Recently in the month of November Manziel allegedly punched and broke a bartenders

nose in Austin, Texas(Perez).

With all of the fame and fortune that Manziel received he chose to push the boundaries of

what athletes were able to do, or even get away with. Because of the success Manziel had

coming out of college and being drafted in the first round at number 22 he thought he was

untouchable. After winning the heisman trophy his freshman year that really started a fire with

his behavior off the field and somewhat of a celebrity status. Manziel would be constantly seen

with celebrities partying at night clubs, outrageous pictures and videos of him surfacing through

social media and other improper actions. I don't have a drinking problem, the team has a

problem with me drinking. Theres a big difference(Johnny). When reviewing these actions it

all started out with the money and the fame, which dates back to the original question asked. If

there is a potential prospect athlete either able to play division 1 or professional sports this is not

a trend anyone wants to see. The image of partying and disobeying coming from being

successful in higher level sports is not something we want to portray to our youth. If children are
following athletic icons that portray this image and want to simply reenact what they see it could

potentially cost them their career.

Emulating or imitating these kinds of athletes is somewhat dangerous to our youth. If

they are at the age where anything they see that they enjoy or think is cool they could potentially

try to imitate and risk a lot of consequences. They can potentially be risking their education,

athletic career, or even their life depending on the situation. This all falls back on what some

professional athletes who are in the spot light are doing off of the field. This can also be an issue

of what the athletes choose to do on the field as well. If an athlete does not get a call or

something does not go their way they can sometimes loose their temper and focus, resulting in

taking unnecessary actions. A prime example of this type of action would be Odell Beckham Jr.

who is known for either making outstanding plays or loosing his temper on the field.

In 2015 a game between the New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers got out of

control when Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and Panthers defensive end Josh Norman

began to go after one another play after play. Small hits and harsh tackles led to Odell Beckham

Jr. tackling Norman blindsided after a play which led to a large fight between both teams. This

kind of play is not tolerated by the NFL who fined both players(Benton) but is not right on the

respect for the game and who is watching. We can all understand that things can get carried away

in the moment especially in a competitive sport on the field, but players need to remember who

is watching. The age old saying that actions speak louder than words is more true than people

think. If a young idolizing football athlete and fan sees Beckham Jr. portray this kind behavior

when things do not go his way, the young athlete could end up portraying the same behavior.

This is not only disrespectful but if they are trying to hurt someone on purpose after the play that

can become dangerous. Thankfully this kind of behavior is not extremely common or is simply
televised in todays games. It is beginning to be under more control which is what would like to

be seen from a viewers perspective and also a players.

With all of these negative stories and facts about a once great football quarterback leads

back to even allowing our children to follow and indulge in having Johnny Manziel as an idol.

People and children are able to follow his every move whether a new story is being featured on

Sports Center, there is a news article, a social media post and the list goes on. There are so many

platforms that can be accessed by our children when they want to learn more about their idol that

it can become dangerous. They are able to learn about stories or crimes that they might be too

young for and those stories are based off the athlete they idolize. This is solid evidence that

shows how big of an issue some sports idols can be, especially to our youth.

In todays world social media is a part of everyday life, many people cannot go a day let

alone a few hours without checking one or more social media platforms. Depending on what

accounts they choose to follow they can be exposed to so many different trending news stories.

Majority of these trending stories tend to be sports related due to how popular they are.

Unfortunately some of these stories are not positive ones, several times a month or even a week

stories cover issues that players are having outside of the game and children can be exposed to

that. Johnny Manziel is a prime example of this but many other professional athletes have had

this happen. One of the biggest social media issues that is athlete related is Michale Phelps being

caught smoking marijuana. Pictures like these can be spread worldwide in a matter of seconds

and right into our children's hands. A picture of their idol breaking the law ad having to face the

consequences, or thinking if Michael Phelps is doing it i should try it too.

A positive reason to idolize successful athletes on and off of the field is because they

have achieved a higher standard of physicality and overall health through hard work, mental
toughness, and consistency. It is because of these and other reasons they have achieved the

immense success in the sports world. These are all good characteristics that can be applied to

many aspects of life. However their higher economic status has allowed them privileges that do

not promote positive ethics for our youth. For example many idolized star athletes such as

Sammy Sosa, Ray Lewis, and Alex Rodriguez have used their social economic status to abuse

their new found privileges to use performance enhancing drugs. All of these examples are

available for our youth to view and have to potential to influence them in a negative way. This

behavior should not be idolized, because it promotes breaking the law and lying to further

advance themselves in their career.

It is because of these reasons and many more that kids should not idolize professional

athletes. The power of persuasion they have with their economic status is sometimes just too

powerful for some kids to understand, leading them to follow in their idols footsteps. Whether

these athletes cannot handle the spotlight, money, or media they tend to crack under the pressure

which is what we end up seeing in the media. Currently these athletes are gaining better control

of what they choose to do on and off the field which will hopefully benefit their influential

power. If this is what the future of is starting to see hopefully next decade in sports will be one

filled with talented and influential athletes both on and off of the field.
 Works Cited

Benton, Dan. "Redskins' Josh Norman Fined $48,620 for Unnecessary Roughness vs.
Giants." GiantsWire. GiantsWire, 30 Sept. 2016. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.

Development, Swiss Academy for. "Healthy Development of Children and Young People
through Sport." : International Platform on Sport and Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Sept.
2016.

Johnny Manziel: I Don't Have A Drinking Problem. Ifunny.com. Ifunny.com, 7 Dec.

2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Murphy, Ph.D. By Shane. "Dark Side of Youth Sports." MomsTeam. N.p., n.d. Web. 12
Sept. 2016.

Myerberg, Paul. "Johnny Manziel Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor Charge in 2012 Arrest."
USAtoday.com. USA Today Sports, 15 July 2013. Web. 27 Nov. 2016.
 Perez, A.J. "Lawsuit Filed in Texas Alleges Johnny Manziel Broke Bar Employee's
Nose." USAtoday.com. USA Today Sports, 29 Nov. 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

Richard/AP, David, and Emily Kaplan. "The Fall of Johnny Manziel:." The MMQB. N.p.,
15 Mar. 2016. Web. 12 Sept. 2016.