McNair is NO HERO

Steve McNair is no Hero. But he is not a monster either. He is Human.
I am not a sanctimonious moralizer. Mr. McNair has four sons. Sometimes young people can be cruel. For the rest of their lives will know that the father of these four individuals was a “dog” (unfaithful to their mother). But I restate Steve is not a monster. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone is a quote that comes to mind.

WE THE PUBLIC ARE MONSTERS. We honor entertainers (sports of all kinds, musicians, SINGERS, actors). We make them out to be our Heroes. It is role that THEY do not necessarily want; some have even publically stated, “don’t make me your hero.”

It is not a new scenario. In ancient Rome, Gladiators were so admired, that their sweat was sold on the open market for Today’s equivalent of a thousand dollars.

As a teacher it is detrimental to out society that sports figures are held in such high esteem. Our children dream of playing Pro sports not realizing the enormous odds involved in reaching that goal. They fail to formulate a Plan B. At one time I have heard Coaches say with pride that “sports build character”. Maybe once it did. Now I would emphatically disagree. Sport’s stars literally get away with murder. (Check the news) They can rape, steal, cheat, fire the coach, choke the coach, have babies outside their marriages and still people adore them and make them out to be heroes. We all commit the same sins these sports figures commit. We the public don’t have to worry about the media following us around and broadcasting every episode of misconduct.

Is it the public or the media? The bottom line is entertainers are there to give us joy, excitement and laughter. They are not HEROES. In fact I think if you give a guy with little or no training, education and life’s skills 50 million dollars, you create a monster.
That person is now surrounded by people who are willing to sell their soul to get a piece of his pie. It is very difficult for them to be moralistic and lead an exemplary life.

In conclusion, we are the villains. Steve McNair is human. His family will suffer for his indiscretions. He is no hero. He was a great football player, that’s it. WE SHOULD STOP MAKING ENTERTAINERS HEROES. They don’t deserve to be, they don’t want to be. There are Heroes out there and sadly they often go unheralded. They often don’t mind. That’s what makes the real heroes HEROES.