I have somewhat of a mixed opinion. He's young, famous, rich, athletic, etc. (many qualities that we'd all love to have). He's made some bad decisions, and I'd venture to guess that most of us have made some of the same bad decisions when we were his age - without the benefit of his fame and fortune.
If you read the news stories of his indiscretions and replaced his name with "a 23 year old man" - you wouldn't be surprised, the story wouldn't even be considered newsworthy.
Because of his tremendous accomplishments, we (as a society) put him on a pedestal and assume that he's some great "role-model" - when in reality, he's just a great athlete. Time and time again, we find that most athletes tend to be poor role-models - but society continues to have that expectation.
If his problems continue, he will find that his sponsorship money will diminish and learn that there is a tremendous financial penalty for not living up to the role-model expectations that society has placed upon him.
For his sake, I hope that he has learned his lesson and the next time he's in the news it's for an athletic accomplishment, philanthropic event, etc.
**Please don't think that I am downplaying his indiscretions - I think that in cases where he has broken the law he should be treated the same as anyone else and be subject to whatever punishment is typical for an ordinary Joe.
If you read the news stories of his indiscretions and replaced his name with "a 23 year old man" - you wouldn't be surprised, the story wouldn't even be considered newsworthy.
Because of his tremendous accomplishments, we (as a society) put him on a pedestal and assume that he's some great "role-model" - when in reality, he's just a great athlete. Time and time again, we find that most athletes tend to be poor role-models - but society continues to have that expectation.
If his problems continue, he will find that his sponsorship money will diminish and learn that there is a tremendous financial penalty for not living up to the role-model expectations that society has placed upon him.
For his sake, I hope that he has learned his lesson and the next time he's in the news it's for an athletic accomplishment, philanthropic event, etc.
**Please don't think that I am downplaying his indiscretions - I think that in cases where he has broken the law he should be treated the same as anyone else and be subject to whatever punishment is typical for an ordinary Joe.
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