Should NFL athletes be considered role models? To begin with, what is the definition of a role model? A role model person looked to by others as an example to be imitated (according to Oxford Dictionaries). With NFL athletes, the general population that looks up to them as role models include kidsâespecially those who are still developing their character. These kids look to the greatest people they know, which, to them, may be those who are the most successful athletic stars. Now, should those athletes be looked up to? And to what extent? Should their life off the field be viewed the same as on the field? What aspects of an NFL football player make them role model worthy? Through the way they handle their money, their composure on the field, and their morals off the field (drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence)?
With the high incomes of NFL players, they are given a lot of responsibility. Great athletes who have taken this responsibility include Aaron Rodgers, the Manning brothers, Tim Tebow, and Andrew Luck. Athletes that are not included in this category are athletes who do not realize, or care, how they are viewed by society. In other words, their actions have displayed characteristics that should not be looked up to by children in particular. Aaron Hernandez, Ray Rice, Tom Brady, and Johnny Manziel are prime examples of questionable role models. There have been many cases against football players including abuse of drugs and alcohol (DUI & possession of Marijuana), domestic violence, and sexual assaults. The question about NFL athletes shouldnât be whether or not they should be role models, but rather who is worthy of being considered a role model, and why? Many athletes hit the spotlight and go in an unhealthy direction that hurts their public image. Other athletes simply shouldnât be looked up to as role models because the chances of growing up to be an NFL athlete is slim to noneâso, football shouldnât be the only part of their life that is looked up to.
How do we stop kids from looking up to athletes? You canât, theyâre dreamers. They look up to their dreams. Kids always look up to the greatest of the great, athletes are their role models whether the players like it or not because successful athletes are like super heroes. They are an example to the athletes of the future. Does that mean athletes should live a certain way, under certain standards of morals?
Now, where can sources be to take a stance on this? Well, court cases, video interviews, and news articles from sources like Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and PBS.org. Some sources may be biased, some may try to explain that, yes, the NFL has a bad rep, but there is also good athletes who use their money for the better man and also hold themselves to high standards.
Obstacles I am going to face--- How to successfully prove my point without being completely biased. Using court cases to prove a point of people who arenât role models, but also looking at how they shouldnât be looked at as role models by legal standards. Difficulties with this will be the populationâs stance of what is okay and what isnât.
My viewpoint is unique because I see how playing a sport can be simply a job, a job in the entertainment realm, but I also see (as a former athlete) why and how athletes are looked up to. I see how athletes are idolized and how they are super heroes. As an educated student, I see the value of education and how many athletes never received that gift and so they shouldnât be placed in the same category as a self-made, educated, businessman.
