Which pro athletes are good people? Which ones are not?

[outofplace]

I'm not sure if we ever had a thread about this, but it certainly has come up about specific athletes in the past.

My little exchange with Oscar about Chris Chelios on another thread got me thinking about it. My mother used to deal with pro athletes in her job. With the exception of horse racing and figure skating, she knew next to nothing about sports. She would occasionally call me to ask me about athletes after dealing with them.

Two stand out. One was Chelios. As I mentioned on the other thread, my mother did not like to say negative things about anybody. For example, she really disliked the woman I dated before I met my wife, but didn't say so until I broke it off. Anyway, she asked me about Chelios, who was still playing at the time, and I ran through some of his accomplishments. She responded by telling me he was rude and inconsiderate, often changing his mind multiple times before backing out entirely.

The other side of that story was Marcus Allen, who was also still playing at the time. She asked me about him, then went on to tell me that he was extremely patient and nice no matter how long things took.

Those are the little stories I find interesting, when an athlete can probably get away with being a jerk, but chooses to be decent. Or chooses to be a jerk.

I figured this group would have some stories, though I know y'all might not be able to share them all.

 

[User 150927]

Justin Simmons is the real deal. Married his high school sweetheart. Still comes home in the off-season. Speaks to elementary age kids about how to persevere and succeed. Class act all the way. Also a damn good safety

 

[FileNotFound]

My experiences with Vinny LeCavalier in Tampa working with the pediatric cancer community suggest to me that LeCavalier is a really good human being.

 

[Driftwood]

This is tough for me because I don't put any pro athlete on a pedestal. I especially don't put stick and ball athletes on a pedestal because they have been coddled and told they were special since 8th grade.
My expertise is in motorsports:
Most old school NHRA drivers are awesome people. Older NASCAR drivers are good to go. Bobby Allison is a genuine nice human being.

 

[UNCGrad]

Had about three really good experiences with Rory McIlroy. Two had nothing to do with me. But I saw them, and he was impossibly kind to working-class people.

 

[Spartan Squad]

Dana Stubblefield was really cool the one time I met him. Funny. Nice guy. Treated me—a 20-year-old reporter really cool.

He was convicted of sexual assault two years ago.

 

[outofplace]

Dana Stubblefield was really cool the one time I met him. Funny. Nice guy. Treated me—a 20-year-old reporter really cool.

He was convicted of sexual assault two years ago.

That's a great way of reminding us that all we really have of most people is a snapshot of who they are in particular moments, not who they are all the time. Maybe the thread should ask which athletes have we seen doing good things and which ones have we seen being ****ty.

 

[Spartan Squad]

That's a great way of reminding us that all we really have of most people is a snapshot of who they are in particular moments, not who they are all the time. Maybe the thread should ask which athletes have we seen doing good things and which ones have we seen being ****ty.

It’s interesting you point that distinction out because that wasn’t my intention when I wrote it, but it fits. That story just stuck out to me because I was trying to think when I’ve actually encountered pro athletes outside of a game or team sponsored setting. Stubblefield stood out because I had such a positive experience with him only to see him be arrested 15 some odd years later.

I also lent Bryant Young my watch when he and Jeff Ulbrich came to a local high school to run work outs with the football team. Less interesting to anyone but me but that is basically what I was working with.

 

[DanOregon]

I do think it's kind of unfair to "judge" an athlete on one or two chance encounters or how they make a sportswriters job easier or more difficult. I'm always amazed at the nominations of the NFL Walter Payton Award. Yes they are NFL players, but some of them really go the extra mile, establishing their own programs and administering them, many of them aren't make huge NFL money but they are making profound differences in the lives of their communities - and they don't get half the ink of a player mouthing off on social media.

https://www.nfl.com/honors/man-of-the-year/

 

[da man]

Warrick Dunn has always stood out to me as a guy who works hard to do good things for others.

 

[qtlaw]

Warrick Dunn has always stood out to me as a guy who works hard to do good things for others.

IIRC Dunn used to buy/build homes for those less fortunate and one beneficiary was very young Deshaun Watson.

 

[lakefront]

Always cringy when an announcer declares some athlete is a "great guy". First time it hit me, was right after we found out something about someone (don't even remember the details, just remember the feeling) and I thought, you have got to be kidding me, have you not just learned something from this very recent thing?

 

[OscarMadison]

Maybe couch this in terms of personal encounters? Ahdunno...

 

[DanOregon]

"friend of the show" is a classic. Means he comes on every now and again.

 

[da man]

Maybe couch this in terms of personal encounters? Ahdunno...

Using this criterion, off the top my head, my first thoughts are Sam Mills, Jason Witten, Kevin Hartman and … John McEnroe.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Unless someone committed a crime, or I saw them engage in very bad behavior I found it better for my mental health and I believe accuracy of reporting to divide the people I covered as interesting or dull rather than good or bad. I'm far more capable of accurate judgments in the former divide than the latter.

 

[ChrisLong]

Years ago, our female columnist wrote that Elton Brand held the door for her when she went into the Clippers locker room.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

"friend of the show" is a classic. Means he comes on every now and again.

"Thanks for giving us a couple of minutes" - every sports talk show host at the end of a 10 minute interview.

 

[da man]

"friend of the show" is a classic. Means he comes on every now and again.

OK. Is this a criticism? Does anyone think it means something different?

 

[LanceyHoward]

That's a great way of reminding us that all we really have of most people is a snapshot of who they are in particular moments, not who they are all the time. Maybe the thread should ask which athletes have we seen doing good things and which ones have we seen being ****ty.

I think one mistake that many sports journalists is they canonize anyone in print who is friendly to them as worthy of sainthood. I think, for example, Michael Jordan is someone that most people who dealt with him thought was a jerk but he did treat reporters well and hence was treated as a great person.