The constant issues concerning athletes and legal issues have been skyrocketing over the past few years. What is the cause of this? Why is it that more athletes are leaving the sports world in handcuffs than with a honorary retirement. Ten years ago when you use to hear players getting arrested it was breaking news. It shocked us to believe the people that kids idol, that adults put these athletes on a peddle stool, what has changed? Opportunities that only a small percentage of the population get are being thrown away because these people don’t know how to behave themselves.
I believe that this behavior was already in their personality before becoming a professional athlete. Most of them have some sort of troubling history which never got corrected. They come from a place where all they know is crime and violence, but they were blessed with a talent and they kept their noses clean just long enough to make it to college. They might have little hiccups, but honestly some colleges will sweep your issues under the rug if you are good enough in your respective sport. These athletes get pushed into the professional level where all eyes are on them and there is no schools protecting them, because all they care about is money. These athletes are coming into careers with a lot of money and hanging around the same bad influences that they grew up with and the math just does not add up. The most violations you see are; marijuana, DUI, domestic violence, and recently there has been some gun charges. These issues do not arise just when someone reaches the professional level, issues have been there a long time, but probably smaller, since they can swing a bat, or dribble a basketball, or even carry a football the lower levels just sweep it under the rug. It is not fair to the athlete or the fans for that matter. If you continue to just let them slide by they will never take any of the violations they commit seriously.
We can look at one athlete who has been in the news lately. Former San Francisco Linebacker, Aldon Smith, has had legal issues from as early as 2012 that are known. But will I say he is a bad guy, no, his ex-teammates say he was a great dude. So why is this great dude getting into all these legal issues? Something is clearly wrong and I doubt that it started when he was drafted into the NFL. No one was truly concerned about Aldon. Now it is too late and his life could be permanently ruined. I would be wrong if I put 100% of the blame on Smith. I say that because there are many others going through the same thing. Once these athletes get into trouble in the pros that is when you hear about their actions in college and the lower levels, why wasn’t something done then? Maybe if an action was taken then players wouldn’t be having the issues they are now.
We cannot expect kids to become adults just because you put a contract in front of them, and give them a sum of money. The sad part about all of this is that some of these athletes are parents, which means what exactly? The wheel is just being reinvented again. From the talent to the actions there is nothing that changes, and not enough people care for change to occur.
So what is the solution? What will it take for these athletes to make it to their respective sports Hall of Fame instead of becoming one of America’s Most Wanted? It starts from the beginning. If the parents are not setting the example or helping these children then who is suppose to be the example? It falls on others, such as the teachers and the coaches. It seems that any adult that these kids come into contact with need to be role models for these kids lives. Sometimes sports is their safeplace and their get away from life. Let us not let them ruin that. As fans we want to support and cheer for the athletes until they have us in tears announcing their retirement after a great career. As athletes it should be okay to ask for help. There are people that do want to help them succeed not just become another statistic the judicial system. Let us all be a part of why the arrest ratio in athletes today decreases.