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Athletes Off the Field

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Athletes Off the Field
Athletes’ Hardships off the Field The life of an athlete has changed significantly over the years. Their salaries have increased along with their popularity. But possibly the most considerable change has been in the culture. It seems that every day on ESPN we here about another athlete getting in trouble. Society loves to put athletes up on this metaphorical pedestal, but they love even more to watch them fall off. Of course there are athletes that we can look up to as model citizens, but the group’s image as a whole is most definitely suffering. When it comes to athletes, there is a lot more to it than what is seen on the field. Growing up, sports are used to teach lessons of hard work, discipline, and most of all teamwork. These three attributes are useful on and off the field. But what happens when natural talent allows an individual to succeed without developing these attributes? This individual will prosper without ever learning the true meaning of sport. Natural ability can be a curse to most athletes. They take their talent for granted and do not set goals to become better. Natural talent can only take one so far before their lack of hard work, discipline, and teamwork turns into their downfall. The off-the-field life of an athlete is one of partying, spending absurd amounts of money, and run-ins with the law. The development of this lifestyle evidently begins in college and eventually affects most athletes’ professional careers in a way that usually leads to their demise. Out of all groups of athletes, college athletes seem to be the biggest troublemakers. In 2010, there were 85 college athletes arrested on serious charges (Benedict par 4). Those numbers do not include misdemeanor arrests and only include basketball and football players. The fact that college kids are getting in trouble is no surprise, but the numbers of arrests are increasing. Along with this increase in arrests, comes a rapidly changing culture in college athletics. More college


Cited: Benedict, Jeff. “An alarming number of college athletes charged with serious crime.” Sports Illustrated. 8 Sep 2010. Web. 14 Nov 2012. “Broke.” 30 for 30. ESPN. 2 Oct 2012. Higgins, Julie. "Off-Field Behavior Of Athletes And Team Identification: Using Social Identity Theory And Balance Theory To Explain Fan Reactions." Journal Of Sport Management 23.2 (2009): 142-155. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. Klobuchar, Jim. "NFL codes of conduct in the entertainment age." Christian Science Monitor 13 Apr. 2007: 9. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. Lockhart, T. Matthew. "The Ncaa Should Adopt A Uniform Student-Athlete Discipline Policy." UCLA Entertainment Law Review 16.1 (2009): 119-154. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. McLaughlin, Gregory. "This Past Year."Tiger Woods Foundation. 22 Jan 2012. Web. 6 Dec 2012. “NFL Players Arrests this Offseason.” NFL.com. 22 July 2012. Web. 14 Nov 2012.
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