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Stacy Clark
Ms.Vanderpool/Ms.engel
Senior English
26 February 2010
“Athletes in the Media”
A stereotype is a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special
meaning and held in common by members of a group according to dictionary.com. Drew Brees
of the New Orleans Saints was born in Dallas, Texas in 1979. He is not your average Pro athlete;
to him there is more to life than girls, big houses, cars and clothes. Living in New Orleans has
helped him see the bigger picture of who he is as a not only an athlete, but as a role-model to
those rebuilding their lives after Hurricane Katrina. Brees stays in a local neighborhood in New
Orleans unlike most professional athletes. In today’s society some athletes are placed upon a
pedestal as if they should be children’s role model simply because they are on television, such as
Brett Favre or Peyton Manning, others are portrayed negatively based on things they have done
in their personal lives, such as Michael Vick and Allen Iverson. Charles Barkley once said “I’m
not a role model… Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.” At
the same time these athletes are stereotyped each and every day of their lives starting as early as
High school. These Stereotypes are not all true but they are derived from some instances. In the
media pro athletes are seen as super stars beyond all the glitter and glam of pro sports are the
tales of young men trying to make a name and life for themselves.
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Fig. 1. James G. Muhammad, Article, FCN 16 December 2009
In the media today black athletes and white athletes are portrayed differently for example
Michael Vick, who was convicted of a dog fighting conspiracy on December 10, 2007. He was
sentenced to 23 months in prison and 3 years probation. He took part in more than just funding
of these activities “he was in up to his neck with the other defendants” according to prosecutor
Michael Gill. When he had been convicted of his crime the media portrayed him to be the worst
man ever to live as if nobody else makes mistakes. Still to this day they make jokes about Vick
or say that he shouldn’t have been reinstated and did not deserve a second chance. According to
Chris Mortensen “Vick's appearances at federal court in Richmond, Va., prompted large groups
of protesters to gather outside, Many were with PETA and held signs depicting photographs of
pit bulls ravaged in dogfights” (Mortensen). All of this happened after Vick had apologized
publicly for what he had done and showed how sincere he was. While Roger Goodell has
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forgiven Michael Vick for his sins and given him a second chance most of the fans still believe
that he shouldn’t have been reinstated and that he is a criminal. (See Fig. 1)
In today’s society young black males feel that school is not important, but if they
practice hard in whatever sport they play they think that is acceptable and that they can just go
directly to the league upon graduating from high school. Where do they get these ideas from?
Rapper Lil Wayne who in his “Kobe Bryant” song states:
Uh,never take a day off catch u at the top of the key and get a J
off,baseline facetime tongue out like two three,even two three
gotta love how I do me,pra practice while u sleep, practice in my
sleep,stright out ,out of the High School,the brackets ain’t for me I
will be jumping over u like I got a mattress at my feet and all Phil
Jackson say is u better be passing it to me,I put the master in the
peace,attack it like the beats,and I am starving for
victory and dat
means imma eat,and when dey ask u whos da best then the answer
should be me,Ha Ha.(elyricsworld.com)
These kinds of lyrics do more than just teach our upcoming athletes wrong; it also portrays the
ones now in a negative way and the majority of them who agree with Lil Wayne’s lyrics are
probably African-Americans. They hear these lyrics and look at Kobe Bryant or LeBron James
and think that they can go directly to the NBA as well. Black athletes are portrayed the same way
in the movie “Coach Carter”. The team wins a holiday tournament and gets invited to a party in
the suburbs that night. They sneak out of their hotel not telling their coach and leaves to go to the
party. As soon as they get there they are all over the girls showing their trophy off and drinking.
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The point Guard of the team is found having sex with “daddy’s little princess” and the team
reports back to the bus. On the bus ride home the coach expresses how mad he is at the team and
also says “Ghetto hoop stars! Signing autographs and humping the honeys! Well, I’m gonna
show you what humping is. Coach, we won the tournament. We undefeated. I mean, ain’t that
what you wanted? Winners?” (Kenneth Chisholm).
White athletes on the other hand are not portrayed the same way as black athletes in the
media for example Peyton Manning, or Brady Quinn. Brady Quinn recently performed a
commercial with EAS promoting the new protein drink. In the commercial he is portrayed as a
robot that eats, sleep, and breathes football, something like Americas favorite athlete
(youtube.com). Peyton Manning is portrayed the same way in his Gatorade commercial where he
teaches how to throw a football. They make it seem as if he cannot make any mistakes at all.
Peyton Manning is one of the most highly regarded quarterbacks in the NFL and the media today
and the reigning MVP. He also is considered to be one of the best quarterbacks to play the game.
According to Vito Stellino:
Nobody runs an offense more proficiently and creatively than
Manning does. Not only is he a gifted athlete, but he also is like a
coach on the field. For opposing coaches, Manning's antics can be
particularly frustrating. "He'll get under center, ready to snap it,
and then see something else and get out and make another call,
says Miami defensive coordinator Jim Bates. It's incredible
because most quarterbacks in the league don't give you those
types of things. In fact, none of them (Stellino).
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Manning, on ESPN, receives the most glory of any NFL quarterback in the league today.
Obviously he isn’t the best quarterback as of right now, if this was true he would have led his
team, The Indianapolis Colts, to a victory in Super bowl XLIV.
As you can see these two professional athletes do not receive the same amount of respect
as each other. While Peyton Manning is feared only on the field Michael Vick Is feared on and
off the field simply because of one simple mistake. Vick has proven to the commissioner and to
fans that he is truly sorry for the crime he committed and that the only thing in life that matters to
him is his family and football. So why is it so hard for him to regain his image or for people to
forgive him or any black athlete for that matter? Simply because he is black and was once one of
the highest paid quarterbacks in the world. “When black athletes stumble and fall there appears
to be little sympathy, but plenty of media, society scrutiny” (Muhammad).
Now all white athletes are as innocent as Peyton Manning is, such as Mark McGwire or
Ben Roethlisberger, just to name a few. Mark McGwire was a professional baseball player from
1986-2001 and is 5th on the all time baseball home run kings. Not too long ago though he
confessed to the media that he had been using steroids or performance enhancing drugs to better
himself but only in low doses. This rumor had been going on for a long time before he actually
confessed so it wasn’t too much of a surprise to the world. McGwire feels he could have still hit
those same home runs with or without the steroids in an interview he says “There's not a pill or
an injection that's going to give me, going to give any player the hand-eye coordination to hit a
baseball” (ESPN.com news services). This incident was on ESPN no more than a week tops
before all was forgiven and Mr. McGwire’s image was restored as a human being, baseball
player and role model. “His willingness to admit mistakes, express his regret, and explain the
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circumstances that led him to use steroids add to my respect for him," the manager said. “I
wouldn't be concerned about it. [McGwire] was a good hitter that deserves everything he's got,"
Houk said (ESPN.com news Services).McGwire did not receive the same punishment or nearly
as much hatred or receive as much disappointment as Barry Bonds received.
Barry Bonds, who was a professional athlete, as well as McGwire committed these same
crimes and a few more to go a long with substance abuse. Barry Bonds is the all time leading
home run king with 762 total Home-runs for his career, but does he really deserve the title? Was
he really better than Hank Aaron, Some will tell you no he doesn’t because he had to cheat to
win it. If you asked Mark McGwire does Barry Bonds deserve the title he would probably say
yes and “There's not a pill or an injection that's going to give me, going to give any player the
hand-eye coordination to hit a baseball”( ESPN.com news services). Barry Bonds who has lied
about taking steroids numerous times has came out to the public and apologized just as Mark
McGwire did but, hasn’t received the same amount of sympathy. In fact a bond took the most
criticism and was the most televised story about substance abuse out of any other recent athlete
to come out and admit they had taken illegal drugs. Alex Rodriguez took a lot of criticism as
well as bonds. He just as Mark McGwire was forgiven by the media and fans simply because he
gave a sincere apology. According to Sports illustrated this is what he said:
When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of
pressure, felt all the weight of the world on top of me to perform
and perform at a high level every day. Back then, it was a different
culture. It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naive
and I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth, you know,
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being one of the greatest players of all time. And I did take a
banned substance. For that, I'm very sorry and deeply regretful.
And although it was the culture back then in major league baseball
overall ... it was very ... I just feel that ... I'm just sorry. I'm sorry
for that time, I'm sorry to my fans, I'm sorry to my fans in Texas. It
wasn't until then that I thought about substance of any kind, and
since then I've proved to myself and to everyone that I don't need
any of that.
Most fans just want to be apologized to and want to be acknowledged. Alex
Rodriguez was a defiantly a huge fan favorite in Texas before this incident. They
felt a sort of betrayal this is why they choose to act they way they did and show
him little sympathy before this apology. Its sort of like a friendship, you can make
a mistake or do something to really hurt your friend and they will be mad at you
for the time being, but after you apologize things usually go back to the way they
were before the incident.
Furthermore these recent studies of baseball players and steroids have corrupted the game
and media as of lately. According to a study, in 2007, there are 87 different players who were
linked to steroids only 34 of them were active in the MLB during the 2007 season (Mitchell).
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Fig. 2. Drew Litton, cartoon, laughing wolf 01 December 2007
As you can tell from figure 2 Major League Baseball players do not have good reputations nor
are they portrayed positively in the media. The studies show that not all baseball players take
part in substance abuse but over the last two decades majority of the “fan favorites” or standout
athletes have at one point in their career have been involved with substance abuse, Ken Griffey
Jr., Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, Jason
Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Roger Clemens just to name a few.
Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire stories are very similar in certain ways. They both were
average baseball players until they decided that they wanted to be better no matter what the cost
was. They got involved with Substance abuse and their numbers jumped way up including home
runs. Most people when they noticed the changes in their batting averages immediately jumped
to the conclusion that they were on steroids or doing something illegal. For this simple reason
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some players in the Majors are afraid to try and be better simply because they have seen how
some of the other player’s lives have turned out. Some don’t want all the attention and paparazzi
that Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire had to deal with. But in the end at least for the most part
both were forgiven for their sins they had committed. There are some who will still say that
Barry Bonds doesn’t deserve to be the Homerun King but there is nothing anyone can do about it
because who is to say that he wouldn’t of still hit those same balls out of the park if he didn’t do
steroids. In so many words they were just Professional athletes who had their image and dreams
destroyed.
On the other side of things, college athletes are probably portrayed the best of any
athletes in the world, but college sports are not a walk in the park either. Most college athletes
keep a clean slate unless they do something really stupid that jeopardizes their scholarship, such
as Jeff Smoker a former Michigan State quarterback or Quentin Patella a former Wolverine
Defensive end, but they still from time to time tend to be portrayed negatively even if they have
kept a clean track record. Jeff Smoker of all people knows how hard it is to regain his image after
messing up. He was suspended in 2002 for substance abuse. Till this day if you ask a Spartan fan
about Jeff Smoker most people still think weed head. Some might tell you the leading passer of
all-time for Michigan State but I doubt many people remember him by that. Other players, in
college sports, get their image tarnished after they graduate for improper gifts. Everyone knows
the recruiting process is a very competitive one, especially if it the highest ranked player in the
country. Some colleges like to persuade players with gifts, money, girls and a lot of other things
that would make them choose their college over another which really destroys mostly the
college’s image. Just recently OJ Mayo of the Memphis Grizzles was accused of accepting
money and gifts from the University of Southern California, but it wasn’t proven just yet. In fact
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the University Of Southern California (USC) has been accused of giving out improper gifts to
two other athletes besides OJ Mayo, former running back Reggie Bush and current Tailback Joe
McKnight (LATimes).
In today’s society some athletes are placed upon a pedestal as if they should be children’s
role model simply because they are on television, such as Brett Favre or Peyton Manning, others
are portrayed negatively based on things they have done in their personal lives, such as Michael
Vick and Plaxico Burress. Should athletes do some of the things they do such as dog fighting or
shooting themselves in the leg? No, but everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a
second chance. Athletes are human beings just like the rest of us. They are not perfect any of
them including Peyton manning. News is a great thing but it should be limited to what they allow
to be aired. Tarnishing players images should not be allowed at all it just isn’t fair to players or
fans.
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Works Cited
African Americans in sport contemporary themes. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction, 1998. Web. 17
Feb. 2010.
<http://books.google.com/books?id=SAa_GairhY8C&pg=PA29&dq=african+american+in+sport
s+michael+jordan&cd=8#v=onepage&q=african%20american%20in%20sports%20michael%20j
ordan&f=false>.
"Alex Rodriguez admits to using performance enhancing drugs - MLB - SI.com." Breaking news, realtime scores and daily analysis from Sports Illustrated. Web. 27 Feb. 2010.
<http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/02/09/arod.admits/>.
Cartoon. Finalcall.com. James G. Muhammad, 16 Dec. 2009. Web. Feb. 2010. <6.
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_6656.shtml>.
Cartoon. Laughing Wolf, Dec. 2007. Web. Feb. 2010.
<http://cagle.com/news/BLOG/BLOGgifs/Litton071226/litton.jpg>.
Coach Carter. Dir. Tomas Carter. Perf. Samuel L. Jackson. Paramount Pictures, 2005. DVD.
EAS Commercial. Perf. Brady Quinn. Youtube.com. Web.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTqgp6jKbqE>.
Interview. Web. <http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2010/02/08/2010-0208_untitled__plaxico08m.html>.
LA Times. Web. 17 Feb. 2010. <http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/04/sports/la-sp-usc-basketball42010jan04>.
Lil Wayne. "Kobe Bryant." Kobe Bryant by Lil Wayne. 2009. MP3.
"NFL commissioner Roger Goodell conditionally reinstates Michael Vick - ESPN." ESPN: The
Worldwide Leader In Sports. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.
<http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4359354>.
"The perfect touch: Colts quarterback Peyton Manning pushed all the right buttons in the best season of
his career | Football Digest | Find Articles at BNET." Find Articles at BNET | News Articles,
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Magazine Back Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics. Web. 26 Feb. 2010.
<http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCL/is_7_33/ai_113755039/>.