Rod Watson: Let’s get real about how we see athletes
Updated: 06/19/08 7:59 AM
No matter how the Marshawn Lynch soap opera ends, it should help put to rest an old canard: Sport builds character.
It’s one of the myths that rank right up there with the notion that stadiums spur economic development. Together, they form the underpinning of our fanaticism with anything involving a ball, a puck or a finish line.
Before long, Buffalo Bills players and officials are expected to be hauled before a grand jury, although Friday’s scheduled testimony by three players has been postponed. They’ll be grilled about what happened when the running back’s Porsche SUV hit a pedestrian in the Chippewa Entertainment District around 3:30 a. m. May 31.
Some witnesses say Lynch was in the area earlier that night, but the SUV took off, and now — three weeks later — police still don’t know who was driving.
Granted, none of us knows for sure what we would have done in Lynch’s shoes. But that’s exactly the point.
Despite being molded by years of Little League, high school, college and pro ball, Lynch reacted no better — and perhaps a lot worse — than any plumber, dentist or cabdriver. Instead of calling police or an ambulance, if he was there, he called his lawyer as self-protection became Job One.
And if he wasn’t driving, he no doubt knows who was. But the “don’t snitch” credo that stymies police in other cases proved stronger than any sense of right and wrong — even for an athlete whose entire life revolves around playing by the rules.
This is not how Chip Hilton would have handled it. The fictional athlete in the Clair Bee books who always did right and got his teammates to follow suit would have been a stand-up guy. He would have realized his lawyer worked for him, not the other way around.
But somehow, I suspect today’s kids don’t grow up reading Chip Hilton, “Goofus and Gallant” or any of the other staples of my generation’s childhood that now seem quaint.
Instead, they have Michael Vick, Pacman Jones and Roger Clemens. The notion of “character” becomes just so much blather when stacked against signing bonuses, endorsement contracts or adoring fans.
By most accounts, Lynch is not a “bad actor” like other boorish athletes we’ve come to know and loathe. He’s just a guy with exceptional talent who didn’t display exceptional character. In other words, without the uniform, he’s disappointingly ordinary.
“Most people don’t know exactly what Marshawn Lynch stands for, or doesn’t stand for,” said Vito Borrello, president of Every Person Influences Children, the organization that combines character education with parenting programs to turn kids into responsible adults. Borrello sees this as a “teachable moment . . . for parents to reinforce their values” and find out what their kids respond to.
If they admire Lynch, for instance, ask them exactly why. The discussion becomes the vehicle for distinguishing between talent and traits such as honesty and integrity. Sport can reinforce those characteristics, but no more or less than any other endeavor.
“Kids often look up to athletes, but this is a perfect opportunity to emphasize to kids what they are looking up to,” the EPIC president said. “They often don’t know them as people, and that’s where the distinction comes in.”
The conversation might even make parents examine their own values. If adults stop making fools of themselves every time athletes excel on the field, maybe kids will learn to be a bit more discerning, too.
Once we strip sport of its mythical power to mold character, or revive cities, maybe we can more rationally assess its proper place in our society.
