Death of the Sports Icon

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Written by Mark Grey

Henry Aaron (left) Ted Williams (right)

by MARK GREY

1.6.10

Ever since I was old enough to remember, there has always been an elder around preaching about respect. The person giving the lecture often changed, but the catch phrases stayed the same..."you have to give respect to get respect," "respect is earned not given," and the ever famous: "always respect your elders." Every time I turn around, someone is talking about how disrespectful my entire generation is, but when it comes to sports icons, this generation is the most disrespected ever.

I remember as a kid growing up hearing nothing but great tales about the sports legends before my time. The stories about Mickey Mantle hitting the ball out of the park, Magic Johnson starting the game at center, Ronnie Lott getting his finger cut off during the game to play, or Joe Namath guaranteeing victory. With each story, the legend of the player and his decade grew bigger and bigger as the storyteller spoke proudly of his childhood hero as if he had accomplished the feats himself. If you talk to any sports fan over 60, they will tell you that Ted Williams is the greatest hitter who ever lived, Bill Russell is the best center to play basketball, and there will never be another Larry Bird. All of the sports heroes of yesterday have been placed on a mantle of greatness where their legacies have become untouchable, which is fine, but it’s starting to look like that mantle has run out of space.

Can it really be that there will never be another true sports icon again? If our elders have their way, there won’t be. We have respected their sports heroes our entire lives, but they refuse to let ours reach the same level.

In an era when athleticism is at an all time high and sports history is being made almost every day, it seems like all anyone wants to do is tear our sports heroes down. Every time you pick up a newspaper or turn on the TV, there is a middle-aged male bashing of some of the greatest sports figures who ever lived. My question is, why? Why can’t our sports heroes be judged by the same criteria as theirs?

The other day I heard one of the most respected journalists in sports say he is no longer interested in seeing Tiger Woods play, and he hopes he doesn’t break Jack Nicklaus’ record. How did Tiger Woods go from being the biggest sports icon ever to the biggest disgrace in golf history in one night? I wonder if we put a six-figure reward out for any female who came forward with a story about Nicklaus what we would find out. Would Jack still be the untouchable legend he is today? Is Tiger really the first golfer to cheat on his wife?

Kobe Bryant has dominated the NBA for a decade and instead of admiring his on-court greatness and accomplishments, his critics refuse to let us enjoy it. They said to be great, Kobe had to win a title without Shaq. My question is, why? Bird didn’t have to win a title without McHale to be great. No one ever asked Magic to win without Kareem. Why can’t Bryant just be great -- period? Why is there always a critic attempting to cheapen his legacy?

Any time we have a sports icon on his way to being the best or one of the best ever, someone always comes in with an attempt to spoil his legacy. Randy Moss is the best receiver to ever live not named Jerry Rice, but all we ever hear about is that he doesn’t run full speed on running plays to the opposite side of the field. After Michael Phelps brought home eight gold medals, the biggest story about him was a picture of him at a college party acting like the 23-year-old kid he is. Roger Federer is good, but tennis isn’t what it used to be. Shaq was dominant, but not like Wilt. Tom Brady wins a lot of SuperBowls, but he’s no Joe Montana. There is greatness across sports, but no one seems willing to let us enjoy it. Why has Tiger’s entire legacy been reduced to him being an unfaithful husband? Was Henry Aaron perfect? Was Bill Russell a saint? Was Walter Payton without sin? The answer is no, but no one would dare attempt to tarnish their legacy or knock them off that untouchable mantle. There are stories of Hall of Fame baseball players playing games drunk, and NBA hall of famers who abandoned their kids, but no one wants to talk about that. However, if Carmelo Anthony gets a traffic ticket, it’s front page news.

The same things that yesterday’s sports heroes are praised for, they would be crucified for today. If Namath guaranteed a SuperBowl win, he would be called arrogant. If a player hit a baseball out of the stadium, the question would be what illegal supplement he is taking. If a point guard ever said he wanted to start an NBA finals game at center, the media would have a field day. Ron Artest says he had a drink at half time six years ago and people say he should be suspended now, while Mantle said he played plenty of games drunk and it just adds to the legacy of how great a hitter he was. Ali was a true showman, but Floyd Mayweather is a loud mouth. Michael Jordan yelling at his teammates was being a great leader, but Bryant does it and he is a bad teammate.

Somewhere along the line when the older generations were preaching to us about respect, they forgot it’s a two way street. Instead of respecting our sports heroes the way we respect theirs, they tear them down every chance they get. At this rate, there will never be another great sport legend again, which just isn’t fair. To my elders, all I ask is that you give my sports heroes the same respect you gave yours.