1

Are Athletes really role models?

Written By: Joshua Lewis

Athletes should not be held to a standard of a role model by the media. The entertainment
industry is a huge business that generates excitement on a nightly basis. Fans make entire events
out of sporting games and the surrounding fun. Tailgating, cheering, and partying before and
afterwards are all parts of the experience that sports provide for the general public. The fact that
the entire population in America and around the world nearly worships athletes and their actions
shows how important the athletes are. Although athletes should not be looked up to or held as
role models, I believe that they are such a big part of our lives we are unable to do anything less.
Superstar athletes earn more money than almost any other profession in America. Therefore, it is
not realistic role model for majority of people. Also, athletes are usually young and
inexperienced in life, making them inadequate role models. Finally, Athletes should not be held
to the standard of role models because the media and social media have changed the way the
world of sports works now.
The first reason why athletes should not be considered role models is because living the superstar
lifestyle is not normal and therefore shouldnt be modeled after. Children are motivated by role
models who encourage strategies that fit their regulatory concerns: Promotion-focused
individuals, who favor a strategy of pursuing desirable outcomes, are most inspired by positive
role models, who highlight strategies for achieving success, prevention-focused individuals, who

favor a strategy of avoiding undesirable outcomes, are most motivated by negative role models,
who highlight strategies for avoiding failure. The average salary for quarterbacks in the NFL is
nearly two million dollars. Defensive ends are second highest paid in the league at one and half
million (sports illustrated.com). The average salary for NBA players is 5.15 million according to
(nba.com). According to ESPN, the average salary in professional baseball is over three million.
These are positions and sports that are popular among society and the media and people in these
positions are usually looked up to. These salaries do not compare to hardly any other profession
in the United States in salary or respect. Doctors and lawyers do not make nearly as much money
and arguably work harder on a daily basis than athletes do and they are hardly shown on
television or the newspapers. Athletes in society have an elevated status, they entertain, they
inspire, and perhaps most importantly, they serve as role models for kids around the world.
(Teitelbaum 108). With the salaries being so different, it is not smart to consider the higher
salaries and elevated statuses to be role models. If you followed the actions and ethics of
superstar athletes, you would be presented with issues trying to maintain that lifestyle. Wanting
to be like an athlete will only lead to insecurity and imbalance in your personal and financial life.
The general public should aim to be more like people that have average salaries so that they can
reach realistic goals and expectations. Persons Self-esteem is highly tied into having role models
that can be identified with, so the subject can be successful in their own life. Not many people
make it to play professional sports, so it becomes more realistic for a person to reach for
carpenter or engineer as opposed to professional quarterback. Athletes operate with unbridled
hubris and have acquired a distorted self-image that allows them to do whatever they want
without regard for the repercussions. They view themselves as above the system, and when they
are caught in their corrupt actions, they expect to get a free pass (Teitelbaum 39).

Secondly, most athletes are young and inexperienced in life skills, which make them
inexperienced role models on and off the field. College student-athletes are also very revered in
America along with professionals, and they have almost the same amount of pressure and more
responsibility. These 17-22 year old student athletes generate large amounts of money for
universities and entertainment companies while they are given an education from the University
for a Discounted Price or for free. A college freshman is examined through five stages: Getting
Started, Communications, Precollege Programs, Transition and Belonging, and Surviving the
First Year (Miller, Kissinger 74). Student-athletes are faced with greater demands for their time
both inside and outside of the classroom. As is the case for many student-athletes, the demands
placed on them outside of the classroom can be detrimental to their achieving learning outcomes
(Hood, Craig, & Ferguson, 1992). These students are under enormous amounts of pressure to
perform and upkeep an entire universitys reputation on game days, on top of keeping their
grades at a minimal level to be eligible for competition. The media portrays student athletes as
good role models because they travel a lot due to games and they still have to attend class as
well, but when a student athlete makes a teenager mistake or a young adult mistake, the media
tries to make the person come off as bad or undisciplined athlete by the media. These
students are very aware of the pressure, and they must perform on a nightly basis in order to
uphold the peoples expectations around them, and the expectations of themselves. These young
students are motivated by the money and glamour of professional sports. The independence of
adulthood sounds appealing and they rush into professional sports in order to have their own
money and make their own decisions. If these athletes are any good, the public will notice their
talents and their accomplishments on the playing field or court and idolize them. Unfortunately,
college athletes that are good enough to play professionally are not always the smartest or best

with finances. Some of these athletes come from less than fortunate backgrounds and therefore
are exposed to money for the first time in their lives. These young men and women are given
millions of dollars and given independence and told to make major decisions when they have
hardly had that kind of power before. Money gives the young person the tool they need to do
whatever they want to, and most times those things are not the best to model after. The drive for
immediate gratification is high among young adults and research shows the decision-making
sections of our brains are not fully grown until we are 25-27. Young athletes that have access to
millions of dollars act on impulse and desire, making decisions that potentially ruin their lives
and career. If these athletes are role models for children and the general public, it can send a
dangerous message to those watching.

The third reason that athletes should not be made into role models is because all adults
are doing exactly what athletes are doing on the playing field or court. Once an adult reaches the
right age they find out what they excel at and maximize their potential in order to survive. Lance
Armstrong observes that most athletes, are too busy cultivating the aura of invincibility to admit
being fearful, weak, defenseless, vulnerable, or fallible, and for that reason neither are they
especially kind, considerate, merciful, benign, lenient, or forgiving to anyone around them
about being a role model or a cultivating figure (Overman 99). According to retired basketball
player Charles Barkley, he was paid to play basketball and not as a role model, "I am not a role
model. I'm not paid to be a role model. I'm paid to wreak havoc on the basketball court."
(Caulfield Black History Bulletin, Vol. 74, No. 1). He adds that parents should be the role
models. Barkley criticizes the tendency of African Americans to see only entertainers and
athletes as their role models (Ebony Vol. 63 Issue 2, 164). Once students leave high school, in

college they choose what career they want to be in based on what they are good at or what they
love in order to make money for the rest of their lives. Athletes choose to put their bodies
through a lot of stress and hard work in order to provide entertainment for the entire country. We
have seen how even college sports teams hold up the reputation of entire universities and
generate revenue for college towns, while professional teams drive economies for entire cities.
Professional teams bring pride and joy to the citizens that watch them, and they become a
metaphorical part of the team they cheer for. The athletes that are idolized are in fact not doing
anything different from the doctor, lawyer or even the police officer or teacher. Those adults
chose their professions according to their passions and they are maximizing their potential and
making money in their fields. Athletes deserve no more respect or reverence for the passion or
love that they have for their sports than a teacher for her students. Unfortunately, the revenue
generated and the lifestyles maintained from that revenue is what drives the professional and
college sports arenas. The media are a big part of driving the athletic machine that entertains the
American public. ESPN is a news network that plays only sports news, 24 hours a day 7 days a
week. Even though some information is repetitive and the sports center is the same for an entire
day, there is still always a story or something to be discussed in the sports world. The journalists
for ESPN, the coaches for the teams, the general managers, owners, the film crew, the referees
and even the mascots are all jobs that are more reachable than the actual athletes. All these jobs
that work for get paid decent amounts of money, but they are not glorified like the athletes are.
These jobs are upheld by the sports though, and without the sport and spectacle the giant industry
would not exist.
We have seen the importance of sports in the American society and media. Although
their athletic accomplishments bring them enormous wealth and other advantages that come with

celebrity, they continue to function as rebellious adolescents who become embroiled in antisocial
and sometimes dangerous off-the-field activities (Teitelbaum 85). They help the general public
stay entertained and the sports themselves support a large pool of workers to create the spectacle.
I have suggested that it is more reasonable for the public to idolize those that are in more normal
jobs, as to create more reachable goals and more like role models. Teachers, firemen, politicians,
and landscapers all do jobs they love that serve a purpose in society also. Do athletes deserve the
money for playing a game when others are doing more important, long lasting legacy tasks?
Teachers are a great example of how it seems Americas priorities are somewhat skewed. If we
value education more than entertainment it seems that we would reward our teachers more than
our athletes, but in the end entertainment is more profitable and therefore worth more money.
Teachers will affect future generations by creating well-adjusted citizens. Athletes may teach
future generations to persevere through injuries at best. Most likely they will pass the legacy of
partying, unhealthy relationships, and performance enhancing drugs. Legacies that are left
behind should be directly correlated to the amount of money a person deserves. Some athletes
leave a mark on their sport, and in the world with their charisma. Some athletes use the platform
they are given for charity and other good deeds. Some athletes use their fame and fortune to
show the general public how to truly be grateful for their talents and passions. The athletes that
use their elevated status for good should be idolized and made into role models, and that
warrants million-dollar paycheck.
In conclusion, Student athletes are more plausible role models. As we previously
discussed they are under just as much pressure if not more to perform and uphold reputations of
thousands of people. For some cities and states, college teams are the only form of sports
entertainment in the area. The local media outlets are flooded with the news of the local teams

and their competition keeps the town together in hard times. Along with this responsibility of
being a towns cement, these children are expected to keep their grades at suitable levels. In
order to successfully time manage college sports, which is becoming more and more competitive
every year, and to keep a decent grade point average does not allow for any foolishness. Student
athletes are not able to get into much trouble because if they are out getting into trouble, they
will most likely not be a student -athlete for very long. Professional athletes have a lot of time on
their hands and not as many rules. College athletes should be regarded as role models because all
young people should aspire to compete at the highest level possible, whether it is in sports or in
academics. By making college athletes into the role models of America, more and more children
will become successful adults.