Celebrity role model role has no connection with raising kids

Sometimes we can remember what happened 20-plus years ago with much more clarity
than we can recall what happened 20 seconds ago.

I had a senior moment at home and I’m only 45. I put in a new filter and fresh coffee grounds
into the pot. So I come back ten minutes later to get a cup, only to find out I didn’t pour fresh
water into the pot to brew the coffee.

NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley made headlines in 1993 when recording a commercial,
he said, “I’m not a role model. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise
your kids.”

Good thing for Barkley that he didn’t play in the social media/cell phone camera era. Can
you imagine Barkley on Twitter back in the day? Good Lord.

The issue of professional athletes being role models has always been a hot button issue for
a lot of people. My take has always been, “like it or not, professional athletes are role models.
Whether they are good or bad at being role models is another matter.”

Don’t get anything twisted, before you play the cop out parenting card, I’m not asking them
to raise my kids. I have an 11-year old and two 9-year olds. I believe my wife and I are more
than holding up our end of the equation. Are we perfect? No. Are we good and functional?
Most definitely. They get good grades in school, participate in extracurricular activities and
in general are well-behaved. Do they have moments of squirelliness? Absolutely. That’s to
be expected. They are kids, not robots.

Let’s not fool ourselves, kids are impressionable and they emulate the behavior of their
heroes. Why are there more high school kids getting tattoos? That answer, at least partially,
lies in many professional athletes having them. I never thought I’d live to see the day that
I’d find a JV basketball player with one. The day I saw a high school student-athlete with
multiple tattoos, I felt like Rip Van Winkle.

That said, the important distinction to make is they are “secondary” role models. I could
get on a diatribe saying that raising kids starts at home but that’s not what this column is
about. Parents are where the buck starts and stops.

Much of the focus on professional athlete role modeling often tends to focus on negative
behavior such as “don’t run afoul with the law like Michael Vick” or “watch what you do
when out in public.” The latter takes on even more importance in this day and age with
social media.

It’s just as important, however, to point out to youngsters the positive aspect of professional
athlete role modeling such as “look at the teamwork and humility that the San Antonio
Spurs showed in winning the NBA championship in 2013-2014” or “look at the training
regimen of Tony Gonzalez that allowed him to play at a high level for 17 years.”

Those are two examples of many where sports stars make great role models for children,
teens and adults, they show the benefits of a healthy lifestyle while they eat, train and play
healthy. They encourage children to be strong and fit, and not all sports stars take drugs, it
is only a couple of people that ruin the reputation of the other sports stars. The problem is,
the ones that ruin it tend to stand out more.

Of course, there are bad behaviors to learn from as well.

Much of the venom toward professional athletes is related to the exorbitant salaries they
make. However, I have always said that being a millionaire does not make you any less
human.

You hear the groveling all the time, “Why the hell are they making way more money than
teachers, policemen firemen, et cetera?” True enough but notice how those doing the
groveling wouldn’t turn that money down. It doesn’t bother me at all that pro athletes make
way more money than most in society.

Much has been made of how more than half of retired professional athletes face financial
hardship after their careers. The role modeling aspect of parents teaching their kids comes
in and subsequently says, “Son, just because you win $10 million dollars in the lottery
does not mean you buy a $10 million dollar home.”

Whether they like it or not, professional athletes have the power to influence in negative
ways, whether it is by firing a gun, taking drugs, drunk driving, or whatever stupid behavior
may be the flavor of the day, but the behavior can be positive too.

As a result, athletes need to be incredibly responsible about what they do and say,
particularly today thanks to the juggernaut of social media making them so accessible.