Should athletes just play the game?

[Sports Enthusiast]

So I was watching a talk show and they mentioned how a defensive linemen for the Texans this past weekend spoke out of an incident where a young man was killed. I didn't look up the specifics of the incident but I'm guessing it was a cop shooting. The player was black and the kid I'm guessing was black. We have seen this before. NBA guys last year wearing those I can't breathe t-shirts in warm ups. The thing that I think makes this an infuriating topic is race. Not necessarily racism but it always seems like its a minority and not white sports players participating. Which makes you wonder would these actions be done by those players if the victims were white. I'm not really gunning for a fight but it is an interesting topic. Personally I feel like a sports player shouldn't be a role model for a kid. An intelligent kid would understand this. They have no direct impact on your life. You may Be athletic and have a dream but at the end of the day these pro athletes don't make or break your life. You have to be good enough and put in the effort. You also need to have good values which you should learn from the adults in your everyday life. As a big sports fan I've often wondered why bother honestly. If you think about it, its a one way partnership. You're a fan, you buy merchandise but they do nothing for you. They don't really know you're a fan or care. Either way they are getting paid and that's their biggest concern. Of course being american they have freedom of speech and can try to be a voice to our youth but that's not their job. Just thought the whole concept was interesting conversation.

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[Morozov]

Athletes ARE role models for kids, you can't really say I don't think they should be, because fact is they are.

Kids grow up idolizing these guys and wanting to be these guys. That isn't going to change. Who on this forum didn't spend parts of their youth skating around or kicking a ball or bouncing a ball pretending they were Wayne, or MJ, or LeBron or whoever.

That's how it is.

Certainly some athletes aren't guys you should look up to, and I don't believe that just because you are a pro athlete you are obligated to conduct yourself in a way that a role model should, because your job is to play your sport not to be a good role model. But, the guys who realise they are role models and take that as a responsibility definitely get my approval. Athletes make a huge impact on youth, and society as a whole.

 

[KaylaJ]

the "kid" was 31 years old and a friend to Wilfork

 

[Goonzilla]

I don't care one bit about any athletes opinion on anything; or any movie stars for that matter.

I'm a fan; and I certainly don't begrudge anyone earning megabucks if that's the slice of a pie they can get their hands on, good for them, but it doesn't for a moment make them more educated, more intelligent or more knowledgable or experienced than the next person.

I'm more interested in what the cabbie thinks.

If a few of them didn't make it in sports or movies of whatever, then they might well be serving me in a restaurant, which doesn't diminish what any waiters opinion might be about something either.

It just means they are no more informed or aware of something than the next person; and in fact the altitude they inhabit might make them less aware.

Some of the dumbest people are those that venture outside their specialist field assuming they are just as talented elsewhere. Though it's dumb also to presume they're all like that. No stars get the big bucks for their opinion though.

Just play the game indeed. If you want to be or do more, go give ten million bucks to a children's hospital. Talk is cheap.

 

[Mischa]

Which makes you wonder would these actions be done by those players if the victims were white. I'm not really gunning for a fight but it is an interesting topic.

Okay