I guess Charles Barkley was right.

Who knew?!

I’ve gotta say I’m a huge hypocrite. I can recall watching my dad watching the Lakers play against the Celtics and thinking how cool Kareem Abdul Jabbar and “Magic” Johnson were. It seemed like they were almost like living cartoon characters. There images were so wholesome and squeaky clean. Then during my teenage years I figuratively idolized Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys, Desmond Howard during his years at the U. of Michigan, and Charlie Ward as he stormed towards a dominant campaign for the Heisman Trophy while at Florida St. Each of them to varying degrees noted Christ as their inspiration and personal savior as I began to develop my own individual relationship with Christ. Even when I felt the need for a little “bad boy” inspiration I looked towards Michigan’s Fab 5 for which basketball worldwide can thank for ridding us of those disgusting “get it boy” shorts of the 70’s and 80’s (see John Stockton http://youtube.com/watch?v=nbqdxlZr4_0). Then Charles Barkley came along and ruined it for all of us in 1993 when he proclaimed parents should be role models in a Nike ad. Let’s take a little tour of some of the worst/most shocking athletic indiscretions of the past 14 years since Sir Charles made that commercial and look at athletes in trouble:

In 1999, Rae Carruth was involved in the drive-by murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend. Though her baby was able to survive the attack he suffers from cerebral palsy.

In November 2004, the infamous Pistons-Pacers brawl occurred with several fan arrests and multiple players suspended. The worst supsensions were awarded to Ron Artest at 86 games and Stephen Jackson at 30 games.

Mike Tyson: I could write a blog about his indiscretions alone but none outshines him biting off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a boxing match in 1997.

Though Marv Albert isn’t technically an “athlete” how could I not mention the 1997 allegations lobbied at him of felony forcible sodomy. “YES! And the foul!”

It’s not just limited to professionals. Peter Warrick and Laveranues Coles were arrested for underpaying for clothes at a Dillard’s department store to the tune of $391. At the time Warrick was widely considered the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy before his subsequent 2 game suspension. I guess Peter was just auditioning for his future spot with the Bengals.

During his Heisman campaign of 1998, Ricky Williams could do no wrong drawing comparisons to Texas’ golden running back of the 70’s Earl Campbell. Since then he can’t do anything right. He retired from football in 04 likely to avoid a drug suspension, returned, then got suspended again with a fourth drug violation.

I could go on and on but I’m SURE you get the point. This is not even to mention all the allegations of drunk driving, abuse, criminal activity, and the like from all types of athletes regardless of sport or race. Names like Pacman Jones and the Cincinnati Bengals will always hold special places in the minds and hearts of their respective local law enforcement. And what about Michael Vick? During his six year career, Michael Vick has been accused of using an alias to spread a VD, hiding weed in a fake water bottle, coordinating an illegal dog-fighting ring, and letting more birds fly inside the Georgia Dome than an Italian wedding.

At the end of the day, parents truly should be role models. No matter what your religious/spiritual beliefs may be we all owe it to our children to conduct ourselves in a manner that gives them the best opportunity to succeed in life. That may mean limiting the explicitives when driving in traffic and just because their toddlers or are sleep doesn’t mean they don’t hear you. It could mean limiting the amount of drinking we do around them and teaching them about the dangers of drugs earlier than we’re comfortable with. It might just mean something as small as spending time with them and less time on the blog (self-conviction). However it manifests itself, we’re all responsible for those who look up to us. Athletes are people just like the rest of us. They suffer from the same maladies, addictions, and demons that anyone else has to deal with. We owe it to the next gen to help them understand that their biggest sports “superman” can never come to the rescue like the “Clark Kents” they live with everyday.