A disgruntled-looking athlete sits perched in front of his locker after a game. A thin veil of sweat—or maybe some extra shower water—collects on their forehead and temple. Through the T.V. screen we can see mics, cameras, notepads, and meaty fingers protruding into the face of the athlete. A faceless voice poses a simple question; for example, on Nov. 23, 2014, a reporter asked Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, “How did you feel about your offensive line grinding all game and working like that?” To this, Lynch responded with a “Yeah” in his deep baritone. For the next seven uncomfortable minutes, reporters asked Lynch all kinds of questions about his performance against the Arizona Cardinals. To each and every question, Lynch would answer “Yeah” until the reporters relinquished and admitted defeat.
Such annoyance and aversion to the media is becoming more widespread throughout many professional sports leagues in America. Most recently, Oklahoma City forward and NBA superstar Kevin Durant told reporters over all star weekend, “You guys really don’t know s—.” Durant expanded on this remark moments later. “To be honest, man, I’m only here talking to y’all because I have to,” he said. “So I really don’t care. Y’all not my friends. You’re going to write what you want to write.”
Durant’s remarks mirror a widening sentiment throughout major American sports leagues of combativeness between players and the media. I think that this growing divide between athletes and the people who make a living out of documenting them can be traced to the increased usage of social media and disintegrating barriers between athletes and the sports-consuming world.
In the age of the Internet, athletes can no longer hide behind pearly-white façades of athleticism and heroism. The list of athletes that have been exposed online is longer than Derrick Rose’s injury history. In October of 2010, Brett Favre was exposed for sending lewd pictures of himself to ESPN online columnist Jenn Sterger. The Tiger Woods catastrophe of 2009 was broken online, as pictures surfaced of Elin Nordegren smashing Woods’ car window with a golf club. More recently, Riley Cooper was shown online using racial slurs at a concert.
The list goes on, but with each new revelation, it seems that the world is blown away that there are athletes who do morally objectionable things. It’s as if we as a society believe that because someone is extremely talented at playing a sport, they are models of behavior for our society. However, I digress. The point being, we live in a world where every slip-up and mistake can and will be documented and plastered across millions of screens across the country. Athletes today are being watched closer than ever.
I’m not saying that Lynch, Durant, and all the other combative athletes of the world are hiding major character flaws from the media. I do believe, however, that this growing aversion to the “media” can be attributed in large part to the way that athletes are now covered online. Entire websites, such as arrestnation.com, are dedicated to cataloguing the shortcomings and bad behavior of professional athletes.
Athletes’ worth to our society is no longer simply the entertainment factor. It is not enough to perform at a high level night in and night out; professional athletes must now also serve as squeaky-clean role models for younger generations. While this is a role that some athletes certainly embrace, being a professional athlete is an increasingly delicate profession. It is a shame that we have constructed the image of a heroic and immaculate professional athlete over the past 40 years of pre-Internet journalism.
Moving forward, we will see fewer heroic Joe Namath types and an increasing number of Ray Rices. It’s inevitable in the age of the Internet that stories similar to Rice’s will emerge with increasing frequency moving forward. However, every reporter and every newspaper that dedicates their time to covering the off-field shortcomings of athletes will be doing a disservice to reporters interested in covering the on-field accomplishments of athletes. Animosity towards the evil institution of “the media” grows with every story released to show the moral deficiencies of America’s athletes.
It is time that we stopped looking to devour stories about how the men and women we watch play sports are actually not as valiant as we would like to believe. As the boundaries between athletes and fans crumble away through social media and the Internet, sports journalism stands at an important crossroads. Journalists can continue to cover stories of athletes breaking the law as if this is some sort of sensational news, or choose to stop perpetuating the myth of the perfect role-model athlete.
One innovative solution to this changing view of America’s athletes is to have the athletes tell their story themselves. The Player’s Tribune, an online journalism site, created by legendary Yankee Derek Jeter is one of the first of its kind, as it allows athletes to tell their own story. The site posts articles from athletes across all different sports, chronicling their experiences and stories. Instead of giving “the media” the job of translating athletes’ words, individuals can speak for themselves. Jeter says the mission of the site is to “transform how athletes and newsmakers share information, bringing fans closer than ever to the games they love.”
Perhaps we can move into a world where athletes such as Lynch and Durant can feel comfortable speaking to members of the media, but more importantly feel empowered to tell their own stories. Athletes are not perfect, but the stories that many athletes have can oftentimes be just that—perfect. The “media” does not need to be a harmful entity, but one that gives athletes a platform to connect with fans. Fans who, as Jeter points out, love the game and love the players that suit up in their team’s favorite colors.