Role Models in Sport, Is it Their Job?

Children often look up to sports figures as role models and figures to mold their own lives after. They choose these sports figures because athletes are in the spotlight more so than figures children should be idolizing such as; teachers, parents, grandparents, and successfull business men/women. We discussed the topic of role models in sport on February 14 in class. While discussing this topic we learned that at the beginning of the 20th century athletes began to view being a role model as a part of their job. Another issue we discussed were the qualities that made up a good role model such as:
-Honesty
-Commitment
-Good Sportsmanship
-Sense of Humor
-Fairness
-Determination
-Good Self-Image
-High Moral Values

This slideshow that identifies the 25 best sports role models over the last 25 years, shows each of these qualities within the players. The article explains how each athlete was able to overcome adversity, or show great play on their respective field, or give back to their communities through charity.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1043972-top-25-sports-models-of-last-25-years#/articles/1043972-top-25-sports-models-of-last-25-years
Tiger Woods (pictured right) is one of the most controversial role models in recent sport history, and we have talked about him on numerous occassions in class. He has been scrutinized for his actions off the golf course, but remains a great role model for the work he continues to do through the Tiger Woods Foundation. Some of the other great role models we covered in class are: Dwight Howard, Tim Tebow, Lance Armstrong, but perhaps the greatest of all is Pat Tillman. Tillman gave up a contract to play safety for the Arizona Cardinals, and it ended up costing him his life while he was fighting for his country. We also covered some of the worst figures in sport: Plaxico Burress, Gilbert Arenas, Adam "Pacman" Jones, Terrell Owens, and of course Michael Vick.