Freddy Montero hopefully has learned an important lesson in becoming a professional athlete. In this climate that we find ourselves, unlike the times of the past, professional athletes are not bulletproof. I have read the stories, I read the claim, and honestly I don't know everything. I can stipulate, boy meets girl, boy tells girl who he is, girl becomes enamored and who knows. It has happened, I am not saying the girl made it up, I'm simply stating Montero has a second chance. Hopefully the veterans of this team will surround him and show him the lessons that athlete's face. Hell, the NFL has education courses for these types of things for their rookies, I would bet MLB and the NHL does the same. The NBA, facing moral issues you know does this. Athlete's are not invincible. Look at the latest examples, Burress, Whitner from the Jets, Vick, hell the list could go on and on. They simply don't run the town, are above the law anymore. Is this wrong, heck no, is it correctable? Who knows. These kids that are groomed, coached, and shown that with hard work, the potential career at hand is full of dollars and glory. What little is done, is taking care of the same athlete when they are off the field, court wherever. Need an example?
How about Marcus Vick. His brother Mike was playing for the Falcons, making millions of millions of dollars, he was the heir apparent to the QB position in the same very place his brother made himself a star, and he simply could not figure it out. In 2004 he was suspended from Virginia Tech the entire year due to 2 criminal convictions. The next year, he was brought back with conditions, which was without incidents. In 2006, Vick was released from the school because of what the school said was "due to a cumulative effect of legal infractions and unsportsmanlike play". Marcus was forced to go into the draft, ultimately going undrafted and lasting into 2007, finally being released and never to be picked up again. His brother, Mike, needs no introductions, or time spent on his story.
In these economic times, people are losing jobs, houses, sanity and everything else. Yet, the pro athlete still makes headlines with million dollar contracts, and endorsements. To some, they become targets. They go out on the town, flaunting their riches, getting in trouble with fighting etc, and some meet women that don't care about them, but their bank accounts.
I do not blame the athlete for making the money, hell, if I could I would too. I am not trying to make this a negative story, I am just hoping for Montero's sake, a kid with massive talent, he will adjust, if needed, his thinking. Montero's career is just beginning, if he performs the rest of the season like he has the beginning, he could very well be playing on a higher level in Europe. I just want to see the talent on the field, and not the police blotter.
This of course is not everyone. There are great examples, Manning, Hasselbeck, Jones, Keller, and Edgar. Maybe in college, ethics courses should be taught to the athletes. I don't know what the answer is. I don't believe I have it, other than surround yourselves with the right people, for parents to teach the athletes morals and give them the right upbringing.
What I do know is it's disappointing when young athletes throw everything away because they think they are above the law. They lose the opportunity to perform on the world's biggest stages with the talents that God graced them with.
No comments:
Post a Comment