Jennifer Klotz
CMN 605
Dr. Ron Bishop
Paper #3

Missed Opportunity Story

With all the space in newspapers, magazines and on sports channels dedicated to professional sports athletes it is a disappointment and missed opportunity that stories about those professional athletes during their off season and after they have retired aren’t present. As it is with everyone, there is more to know than what meets the eye. Many professional athletes lead very interesting and intriguing lives outside their world of sport and fans would want to know about these things as well as how they performed the other day, if only sports journalists would write about it.

Just as publications like US Weekly and channels like E! Entertainment television have formed stories around famous celebrities and their everyday activities, people would react well to stories about what professional athletes do in their “off” time or after their careers. The benefits would extend to the athletes themselves as well. Instead of falling off the radar into obscurity, they would be able to retain their following and live more fulfilling lives after they have retired by being able to retain some familiarity to their old lives through the media. In the case of following athletes during their off season, this is already done to a certain extent with ‘Spring Training’ camp coverage or ‘Draft Day’ shows and highlights, but a large part of that market still remains untapped as well.

I recently learned that a personal trainer at the health club I go to used to play professional football for seven years. Although, other than his stature and physique, you would never know it by the way he treated every person around him. He lacks any sort of pretentious attitude and is more than happy to help out around him, always doing it quickly and cheerfully. He also took the time to start a fitness club geared toward children and a charity that raises money for children with diabetes, especially type 2, which is brought on by lack of proper nutrition and exercise. Carlos Bradley has worked hard in his seasons away from the football field working to make the world a little better of a place than it was when he got here. That is a story worth spreading and looking into further.

I also happened to recently learn that there is an Ed Block Courage Award that is presented to a NFL player every year. This year’s recipient happened to be none other than the Chicago Bears very own Rex Grossman. The Bears quarterback won the award, which is given to one player on all 32 NFL teams, for demonstrating a commitment to sportsmanship and courage and serving as an inspiration in the locker room. His teammates selected Grossman as the winner of the award primarily for two reasons. He was able to overcome two serious leg injuries early in his career while also excelling despite being subjected to excessive criticism from media and fans.

“He did a lot of great things,” said linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer, who attended the luncheon with fullback Jason McKie and safety Chris Harris. “I’ve never seen a guy go to the Super Bowl in his first full year as a starter and get as much flak as he did. “I’m happy to see him get a little recognition. He obviously deserves it and it’s a great honor.”
Asked if he considers himself courageous, Grossman said: “There are a lot of times throughout your life in general that things aren’t going well and you’ve still got to keep your head up and get through it and persevere, and I think if you’re persistent and you’re determined to get something accomplished, I think that shows a lot of courage.”

Not only does this story tie into one of the biggest events of the sporting world, the Super Bowl, but it also carries a great message and shows a side of the athletes that don’t always get given a fair chance in the media coverage during their normal season. Grossman was definitely the more quiet of the two quarterbacks during the Super Bowl and showed great strength and character leading up to and after the Super Bowl in the way he focused his attention on the football game instead of talking smack about the other team or making a million bad commercials to run during the Super Bowl, or even making a snotty comment to the media about the harsh coverage they poured on all season long. Instead, he answered questions at press conferences and kept the rest to himself, which really, at times may have been harder to do than winning the games to get to the Super Bowl with the Chicago Bears in the first place.

Whether it’s professional athletes during their off season or professional athletes after they have stepped off the field for the last time, professional athletes need to remain in the public mind with stories like the ones above. It is important to highlight the athletes that take the high road and donate to society, whether it is through their checkbook or their actions. For sports and all its professional players to once again capture some of that magic and awe that it had back when sports was fresh on the scene, a more complete picture of today’s athletes needs to painted by sports journalists through the publication of stories like the two above. Complaining and whining only breed more complaining and whining. In order to find and create those society hero’s that professional athletes used to be, sports journalists need to explore the humble humanity that exists in all professional athletes capable of leaving the world a better place than it was when they arrived. The rest may leave richer, but last time I checked, inflation and history don’t work all that well together.