Professional athletes are nothing if not players in a drama
“All professional athletes are players in a drama that expands far beyond the games. They are celebrities, characters in a play. Nowhere is this truer than in the NFL. “
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When I was a boy my mother followed very closely the doings of Luke and Laura. These were celebrated characters on the soap opera General Hospital, portrayed by Anthony Geary and Genie Francis. TV Guide lists their fictional wedding as among the most important moments in television. I can recall the anticipation that lead up to their nuptials even though I was only nine years old when they tied the know in 1981. Americans lived vicariously through Luke and Laura – and through the many other characters that colored the daytime soaps of the eighties. Following along with these exploits was entertainment for millions of people – a simple distraction from their own every day lives.
For fans of professional sports athletes often play roles not dissimilar from Luke and Laura. Their play on the field or the court is certainly the aspect of their roles that we covet most, but their behaviors in everyday life are just as much a part of their stories. We are compelled when Aaron Hernandez makes a leaping catch but mesmerized when he is arrested for murder.
Denver’s Von Miller is a linebacker who can put enormous pressure on opposing quarterbacks and produce statistics worthy of water-cooler conversation. But are we not more inclined to discuss his awkward sense of fashion, his alleged use of illicit drugs and his arrest for failing to appear in court?
Former Broncos’ wide receiver Brandon Marshall brings enormous skill to his position. His abilities rival any player in the National Football League but it is the drama that surrounds him that is more often noted. Marshall is no different in that respect that his Chicago Bears teammate Jay Cutler who’s demeanor is as often talked about as his throwing technique.
All professional athletes are players in a drama that expands far beyond the games. They are celebrities, characters in a play. Nowhere is this truer than in the NFL. Football is number one and, as such, the sport in which the human stories are most under magnification. The exploits of baseball, basketball and hockey players are of interest to fans, too. But it’s the NFL that commands the spotlight and is most aggressively covered. Teams only play once a week, though. The other six days are spent breaking down not only the games, but the lives of the men who play them.
The NFL and the organizations that comprise it do their best to keep scandals buried, but the media is working around the clock to unearth them. And football fans are the reason why. We want to be entertained by far more than just live games on Sundays. We desire the same kid of escapism that soap opera viewers do – and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Ours is a voyeuristic society. The success of cheaply made reality television shows can be credited to this simple fact. We enjoy witnessing the successes as well as the shame of other people. We eat it up. It would be ridiculous for highly paid pro athletes to assume that they are exempt from this type of interest. The first thing they must understand when they become pros is that we will be watching their every moves. It’s part of the fabric of entertainment. And, above all, sports are entertainment.
When it comes to pro football, fans enjoy every aspect. We tune on to see the NFL draft combine. We watch the draft unfold. We speculate as the effectiveness of young players, are intrigued by position battles and attempt to predict season outcomes long before the season starts. We also pay very close attention to the person behaviors of the players. These are as much a part of the overall story as wins and losses. That’s reality. If it weren’t there wouldn’t be 24 hour sports news networks, web sites like Deadspin, Sports Grid and South Stands Denver, and non-stop sports talk on the radio.
Pro athletes who wish to be evaluated only for their athletic achievements are well advised not to give us other things to talk about. Von Miller is coping with this right now. By risking suspension, failing to appear in court and getting himself arrested while shopping for a gun he has created the wrong kind of headlines. He would be wrong if thought folks wouldn’t talk about them. The very fact that, up until now, fans believed that Von did everything right only makes the fact that he is imperfect that much more interesting.
If following the foibles of professional athletes is as much a role of media as covering the games and breaking down the statistics there is nobody to be blamed. For many people sports are part of a grand societal soap opera that we cannot take our eyes off of. Final scores and divisional rankings are interesting, but people are fascinating. Professional athletes live under a microscope of their own choosing. They are highly paid lightening rods. When they mess up we talk about it.
We use professional sports as a way to escape our every day lives. Athletes are characters and we are as driven by our desire to keep tabs on them as we are to see them play. If Eric Decker and Jessie James are to Broncos fans what Luke and Laura were to my mother and her friends then they benefit from that celebrity and fame. But if they do something wrong the opposite happens. It causes them grief. When today’s pro athletes sign their contracts they must be aware that there is a lot more involved than just playing the games. The fans are watching the other six days of the week, too.
