As sports fans we love our stars. They are larger than life to us and we marvel at their talent. However, this often leads to us placing these athletes on a pedestal. We look at them as flawless human beings that can do no wrong. Here is my advice to most sports fans: treat sports like Hollywood. Look at these professional athletes as actors in a really, really, long movie, that lasts anywhere from 7 to 10 years. Why? Because it will enable you to process things a lot easier when they screw up off the court/field. Athletes are actors being paid a lot of money to entertain us. You know their work. LeBron James plays “King James” on the court. Deion Sanders was “Prime Time”. Alex Rodriguez is “A-Rod”.
So what happens when the actor screws up? It damages your view of the character they play. Take Oscar Pistorius. Oscar plays the character, “Blade Runner” and his movie set is the track. Watching his performance at the Olympics this past summer was an inspirational tale of overcoming life’s adversities. His performance was so moving, you might even say it was worthy of an “Oscar” (Ok that was cheap and easy). The world fell in love with the “Blade Runner”. Yet, do we really know the actor that plays him? Evidently not, if he is capable of firing 4 bullets into his bathroom door while his girlfriend is standing on the other side. I can process “Blade Runner”. He has the great smile, the charming personality and wonderful story. What I can’t get my arms around is how the guy who played Blade Runner could commit such a heinous, violent crime.
Tim Tebow, another great character the sport of football has provided us. He is the ultimate competitor and tough as nails. Tim Tebow is kind of like the Iron Man movie franchise. Each year the popularity grows, so they keep trotting out a sequel because quite frankly it’s making money for the production company (insert team name here). Tebow is America’s darling. As bankable a character in the NFL, or is he? Now that the NFL season has wrapped, the actor that plays ‘Tebow’ decides he wants to go speak at a church in Texas that is anti-gay and anti-Semetic. Say what?! That can’t be the same Tebow we’ve known all these years? He is righteous and innocent. He would help an old lady across the street and Sportscenter would have a one-hour special on it. Ahhh, but that Tebow is merely a character playing a role in a big football production. The actor that plays him is clearly different when the cameras are off.
Did you guys see the “Johnny Football” movie last fall? It was a huge hit. A small indie production filmed mostly in College Station, Texas. The star of the film was a young freshman that made his mark nationally when he defeated Goliath (Alabama). His performance in that game essentially earned him Best Actor in a major college program – and he took home the Heisman Trophy. Johnny Football became more popular than Johnny Bravo. However, once his movie wrapped, the actor who played Johnny Football, Johnny Manziel, developed a larger-than-life complex. Johnny Manziel didn’t want to attend class anymore. He felt he was too much of a distraction. Instead he has opted to take online classes from home. Yeah, because you are the first Heisman trophy winner to ever go back to school the next semester. Last I checked, Herschel Walker, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and on and on and on, had to either finish up their Spring semester, and in some cases, returned for another year of school. Get over yourself Johnny Manziel. You are an actor playing quarterback in a small town in Texas. I think you can survive a 50 minute English class.
There are certainly many more, from Ryan Braun and A-Rod to Mike Vick and Kobe Bryant. Our favorite athletes – are they the same people we see when the lights go off? Use caution my friends. These athletes are masters at their craft, the best actors in the world. Yet, the reality is we are all actors when we leave the house and head to work every day. Think about your current job. How do you portray yourself amongst your peers? Life is one big movie. Job interviews are casting calls. The only difference is with professional athletes, the stage is bigger and the exposure is greater. Tebow, Blade Runner, Johnny Football. Lights, Camera, Action!