The Glorification Of Professional Athletes: A Tale Of Then And Now

He’s a man that needs no introduction. But he’ll get one anyway. MVP. Two-time Super Bowl Champ. Hall of Famer. One of the greatest defensive players of all time. L.T. Drafted in 1981, Lawrence Taylor represented the New York Giants for 12 years. The anchor of the defense, he was beloved by all fans. Despite his well known issues of cocaine addiction, alcoholism, womanizing and a lifestyle that would have left most mortals dead in a ditch, he is still a beloved member of New York Giants folklore. Taylor has been arrested on numerous accounts for things ranging from parking tickets to allegations of raping an underage prostitute. In his book, L.T.’s Over the Edge, he revealed numerous details about his life before, during, and after football. He’s assaulted police officers, strangled reporters, and was hungover for virtually every single Giants game he played in. And come this September, MetLife Stadium will be flooded with fans wearing number 56. Can you imagine a single athlete in today’s world still being loved by fans after all that horrific publicity? While we’re still in the 80’s, we have to mention Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry. Making recent headlines for their 30 for 30: Doc and Darryl, Straw and the Doc have been extremely open about their lives and the horrors of their addiction to cocaine. Like Taylor they were alcoholics, womanizers and completely out of control. Gooden infamously wasn’t present at the Mets victory parade following the 1986 World Series because he was in a crack house. Plus they just so happened to be two of the most prolific players in baseball. Straw was the 1983 Rookie of the Year. Doc in 1984. They were 21 and 19 respectively. Strawberry recently revealed on The Boomer and Carton Show that on his first road trip with the team he was offered cocaine by a teammate on the back of the plane. Despite their life of crime, addiction, and being faulted for having a fallout with Mets co-owner Jeff Wilpon, they also remain baseball Gods in today’s game. Like Taylor, you still see several fans wear their numbers 16 and 18 with pride. Could they have gotten away with that in today’s mega-endorsed, over-inflated, magnified social media world? Recently, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James spoke out at the ESPY’s regarding recent issues surrounding tension between the Black Lives Matter movement and law enforcement officials. Above all, the message was that on both sides the violence and unnecessary deaths need to stop. This was certainly a noble act and there shouldn’t be any criticism. But there’s a point that has to be made: There was really nothing “outspoken” per say about this speech. It’s a good message and there’s not a problem. But in today’s world of inflated coverage, 4 NBA stars saying people shouldn’t be dying is considered outlandish. The ESPY’s chose to honor Muhammad Ali due to his recent passing and LeBron James even correlated their motivation to speak out as a way of honoring Ali. While there’s nothing wrong with that, there are some major differences between Ali’s time period and today’s digital world. Ali chose not to serve in the Vietnam War. That was an issue of enormous tension throughout the wars 20-year-period. He was vastly criticized and did not care. He did what he felt was right despite enormous backlash. There really isn’t much backlash in what Anthony, Paul, Wade and James did for the ESPY’s. That’s not only a fact for political reasons, but because ESPN gave them the right to do it. So while they should be commended for their nobility in desiring more peace, it shouldn’t be viewed as outlandish or risky by any means. It’s a sensitive issue sure. But in today’s world, the second an issue becomes too political, any major star on any sort of endorsement deal won’t say anything given that their brands can be dropped, and their labels can be damaged. It’s sad but true. And in todays Twitter-verse, every single person of fame is under a microscope. Everything’s twisted. They need to be vastly available in ways no other person of fame ever had to deal with, and if they say anything off the grain or different there’s an enormous chance of criticism. That criticism can range from simple heckling to death threats. Both on something as available as Twitter. The place where children look up videos about Pokemon Go is the same exact place people receive threats and profane comments of an absolutely disgusting nature. Consider the fact that anyone can purchase website urls today. The internet is a beautiful, horrific, amazing, despicable place. It’s more vast than many can even comprehend. And every person of fame is obligated socially to put themselves out there on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to promote themselves and their brand. Yet they’re scared shitless to even consider saying anything that could possibly hurt them in any way. Look at Kevin Durant’s Twitter page and the comments regarding his recent decision to join the Golden State Warriors. Maybe then it’ll be a bit more clear how seriously insane Twitter actually is. Imagine Lawrence Taylor, Doc Gooden or Darryl Strawberry had Twitter. Imagine when the breaking news of their arrest came out every single person that wanted to could say exactly what was on their mind. Public opinion could be swayed so drastically that league executive owners could deem them an unworthy cause. Not because of any societal duties, (don’t kid yourself), but because of any potential hurting of profit. Another key difference from then and now is that if you had heard of Darryl Strawberry or Doc Gooden in the 80’s it was a guarantee you were a baseball fan. If you hadn’t you probably just didn’t like baseball. In today’s world of sports that is not the case. If you haven’t heard of LeBron James, you are in a seriously low percentage of people. Then of course there’s Michael Jordan. In this case the carry over representative in between the 80’s cocaine party era and the 2000’s pre cyber-verse era. (These decade labels are official by the way). Jordan’s endorsement campaign was so successful it was revolutionary. In fact, the six-time NBA Champion and Hall of Famer has made more from his sneaker campaign then he has his basketball career. Considering he’s one of the most successful basketball players of all time, that is extremely telling. Today, players brand their sneakers through his sneakers. In fact, the four aforementioned NBA stars at the ESPY’s all have branded through Jordan. And Jordan has once famously said “Republicans buy sneakers too,” to justify his reserved nature on things political and rabid pursuit of brand immortality. But even the great Michael Jordan couldn’t evade the magnitude of Twitter trolling in today’s world. So far there is a mighty juxtaposition of sports stars of the 80’s like L.T., Doc and Darryl compared to pre/digital era stars such as Jordan, Melo and James of the 90’s and 2000’s. But the conclusion that sports stars were widely more accepted in the 80’s and 90’s then in the 2000’s sort of gets lost in the subject of speculation because there was no one who really had a significant impact in the sports universe for both eras. Keep in mind Twitter started in 2006. Facebook 2004. YouTube 2005. If only there were a sports star that many gravitated to, overcame extremely bad publicity, and was able to do so on both accounts both before and after the digital era… Alas! Brett Favre. Recently voted into the NFL’s Hall of Fame, Favre’s NFL career has been a jaw-dropping experience of good, bad and ugly. From a football standpoint he is a God. In 19-seasons he started 297 consecutive games. If you include playoffs he finished at 321. No one has completed or thrown more passes than Favre. Peyton Manning only recently broke his touchdown record when he surpassed 508 passing touchdowns. Favre is also a 3-time NFL MVP. He did it in 3 consecutive seasons from 1995–1997. He led the Packers to back-to-back Super Bowls. In 1997 they won their franchises first since the days of Vince Lombardi. In the midst of all that success? Alcoholism. Pain killer addiction. Thoughts of depression and suicide. Seizures. This all occurred ironically right in the middle of his prime. He was flawed. But he was real. Favre went into NFL-mandated rehab in 1996 and responded with another League MVP. These were the golden-days of Favre: the mid-90s. But he played until 2010. It included a fallout with the Packers organization (it has sense been reincarnated), a fallout with the Jets after hiding a significant injury and missing out on the playoffs(a torn bicep), and of course his controversial decision to wear Purple and join the long-time Packers rival Minnesota Vikings. From dick picks, to retirement, to trades, to FA signings, to coming out of retirement, to lying about injuries, to the tears and to some of the most unbelievable football moments both good and bad, Favre has done everything anyone can possibly do in a football career. But what makes Favre great is that he wasn’t perfect. He never hid who he was. He would often force passes. He was open about his drinking problem and addiction to vicotin. He was furious the Packers traded him to the Jets so he signed with the Vikings out of spite. He retired and came out of retirement four times. He couldn’t let the game go. It took repairing, but Favre was recently inducted into the Packers honorary Hall of Fame. He wore his flaws on his sleeve. He never hid from exactly who he was despite being tweeted about, blogged about, reported about for just about anything you can imagine. He’s a sports figure that will never be forgotten. And at the end of the day Favre will be loved for moments like these: Note him looking directly at the reporter and saying exactly as he feels. That notion is indicative of Favre throughout his entire career. Something many stars in today’s sporting universe might be good to remember. It’s possible that a Lawrence Taylor in today’s game would end up like Johnny Manziel. It’s also true that if Ray Rice’s horrific publicity occurred in the 80’s or 90’s he would easily still have a job. Who’s to say which is more wrong? That type of question may make people cringe. But quite honestly, who are we to judge? Some things are obviously as horrific as anyone can imagine. But what is the point of vilifying someone who’s already obviously done something villainous? There comes a point where American society is under an absurd notion. Some were foolish enough to think it back in the day, but it’s become a much more common notion in today’s world of public availability. “Athletes have a responsibility as public figures to set an example for kids.” Nope. Not even remotely true. In fact, you have more of an obligation to set an example for your own kids. And in today’s world of sports coverage, it’s almost a guarantee that every single kid that’s a sports fan will be disappointed by some sort of athlete they held in high regard. Whether it’s from something on the field or off of it… Quite obviously at the end of the day if you don’t know someone of fame on a personal level you can’t logically really know anything about them. In what universe would you have expectations of someone that you don’t even know? Some players are open to the media. They get criticized for saying something dumb or foolish. Some players are interactive on Twitter and social media. They get crucified for not having anything better to do. Some players get killed for being mundane around the media, unavailable on Twitter, and for making a serious effort for keeping his personal life just that: personal. There’s no right answer. So there shouldn’t be any expectations. Root for a team. Understand the fact you don’t know them personally. Don’t crucify a public figure for making a mistake — because honestly, what does that accomplish? Watch. Be a fan of teams. If you choose to root or criticize a person individually: remember at the end of the day they’re just a person you don’t know. Perhaps the market has gotten so much more vast since the 80’s and 90’s that that’s why expectations have transcended sports. In other words, if sports appeal to just sports fans there’s a much more finite amount of profit. If it transcends into the beyond, owners need to find ways to get money from people that don’t actually like sports. And when you change the audience, you change the culture. That is the key difference between then and now. But ultimately you have a choice: You can sit back, enjoy the sport for what it is and hope that your team of choice does well. Or you can be a lurching troll waiting to eviscerate someone for doing something completely unrelated to why you were watching them or caring about them in the first place. It’s up to us really. It’s honestly all about accountability. People love to live through famous athletes when it comes to them doing well and then separate themselves at the first sign of trouble both on and off the field. Bruh. Don’t be that guy.