While perusing the shelves last week at the local bookstore, something became astonishingly clear: there aren't enough honest biographies that have marred the image of sports heroes. In the spirit of shedding light on truth, I have compiled a list below of three idols about whom I plan to write life histories and the summary of each planned masterpiece:
1. Jackie Robinson
Everyone knows the story of this great historical figure. What you may not know is that he was a gang member during his youth. He was also rumored to have had several run-ins with police officers, one resulting in him being arrested in 1938. In 1944, he was court-martialed by the United States Military on two counts of insubordination and one count of public drunkenness. That's correct: Jackie Robinson was a criminal. Digging deeper, I intend to show that he, at some point in his life, lied to his wife and mother. He also played baseball.
2. Joe Montana
This piece will focus on the important moments in the life of "role model" Joseph Clifford Montana, Jr. Most notably, the thesis of the work will spotlight his two divorces and the lawsuit he filed against his first wife in 2008. He also peddles one drug (to our knowledge) from his Sonoma County estate. This double identity will be further explored in a compelling memoir that will delve into the potential that Montana felt depressed a few times in his life, despite his career success. The research will be based primarily on conversations with former friends and teammates. He also was known for throwing a football around.
3. Jackie Joyner-Kersee
An athlete setting records during a time in which steroids were coming into fashion? Joyner-Kersee has maintained she never used performance-enhancing drugs to supplement her natural skills, but I challenge: did we not hear the same thing from Rafael Palmeiro, Marion Jones, and Wilton Guerrero? Odds are that she also littered before, made an illegal U-turn, mixed colors and whites while doing laundry, and copied a friend's answers on a homework assignment during middle school. This provocative work will shed a whole new light on the supposed "track star."
All of these books will be journeys into the humanity of our former heroes. After all, in order to show humanity, one must shred the layers of positive contributions to society and air dirty laundry. Sure, you can mention the unique, incredible, heroic feats each has accomplished, but the core of the content should be devoted to the shadows that may or may not have loomed over personal lives. This is the lesson I have learned from recent non-fiction titles that have had success.
In that light, I must give due credit to Jeff Pearlman, author of Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton, for — according to an excerpt published in Sports Illustrated — peeling away the naive notion that Walter Payton was merely a role model and shattering public perception by going out of his way to showcase anything and everything quasi-negative that may have occurred during Payton's life.
All of the stories I grew up hearing about Sweetness engaging fans in conversation or games of catch, being generous to the city of Chicago and the nation through charity work and donations, and displaying courage while fighting for his life? Well, Pearlman presumably touches on those. What about the outrageous notion that a person blessed with physical gifts actually worked his ass off to incessantly improve himself and his team? I'm sure it's in there somewhere.
But according to the excerpt in SI and articles from ESPN.com and the Chicago Tribune, dark and depressing secrets are at the crux of this new work.
Listen, we live in a world where the most watched show on television is MTV's The Jersey Shore, which — for those of you living under a rock — is a "reality" show about six old adolescents (I refuse to call them adults) drinking, screwing, fighting, crying, and projecting major delusions of grandeur. This is on cable. The No. 2 downloaded album, according to Spotify.com, is Lil' Wayne's Carter IV, which includes tracks titled "Blunt Blowin'," "How to Hate," "Abortion," and "Two Shots." This is accessible to children.
We're quickly running out of heroes.
Walter Payton was a human being — a pretty damn decent one. He brought immense joy to tens of thousands of citizens who worked tirelessly each week to bring home enough money to support themselves and their families. He contributed memories that will last forever in the minds of sports fans all over the nation. Did any of us live under the illusion that Payton was unflawed? Immortal? Perfect?
Of course not.
Which brings me to Pearlman's book. Though I will not question the journalistic integrity of Pearlman's research — nor will I go so far as to say it is untrue — I feel obliged to ask this question: is it necessary?
Fans adored Sweetness because the man could do things that we could not. Watching his high stutter steps was a dream for many fans on Sundays who had to return to the grind of their jobs the following morning. Reminding us that he had vices, committed acts of adultery, and generally was not who we thought he was does not help society — it actually hinders it by knocking down one more decent guy.
Now, I am not urging us to trivialize immoral behavior by role models, nor will I endorse some of Payton's life choices. In an ideal world, we would be surrounded by morally pure celebrities who made the right choices at every turn in their lives. But we don't.
One thing for which Pearlman should be commended is pointing out how gracefully Payton's ex-wife Connie handled the toll of their failing marriage. He also states in his article that Connie chose not to speak at great lengths with the author. If the woman who was in the middle of the storm is still in no hurry to speak ill of the dead, taint the legacy of a hero — why should any of us rush to the soapbox to do so?
In the grand spectrum of humanity, Walter Payton did a lot of inspiring, admirable things: he made countless people smile, he kept his private life out of the spotlight and projected respect, hard work, and empathy for others, and he deserves to be revered.
I'm tired of hearing teens aspire to be reality TV stars, wealthy celebrities, and me-first zeroes.
Media: let us keep heroes on their pedestals while we still have a few left.
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