Professional Athletes Professional Atletes We

Professional Athletes

Professional Atletes

We may not look like it on Sundays, but we're human like anybody else.

We bleed, we laugh, we cry and we have fear."

Adewale Ogunleye (Drehs)

Pro" Play

Some professional athletes who "play" - are from the media's spotlight and are paid more than individuals who work in a number of other professions. An individual who plays a sport for money, no matter the amount, is considered a professional athlete. These individuals include, but are not limited to, football, basketball, and baseball players, golfers, ice skaters, tennis players, skiers, stock car racers, in rodeo riders. (Professional Athlete)

An extraordinary amount of competition exists for the comparative small number of professional athlete jobs. In the United States, during 2004, "212,000 people held jobs as athletes, coaches, umpires, and sports-related workers." (Professional Athlete) Jobs for athletes, coaches, umpires, and related workers are expected to increase faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2014. Because a professional athlete can be replaced by a "better" player without warning, however, job security does not constitute one of the primary reasons an individual would consider choosing to identify with this profession. Professional athletes, similar to actors and musicians, constantly contend with the challenge of "playing" their best. Otherwise, their careers may abruptly end. Along with the physical and mental stress accompanying their positions, professional athletes are also subject to injuries that may instantly end their careers. (Professional Athlete) Another common threat professional athletes frequently have to contend with, the focus of this paper, the loss of their personal identity, albeit, is seldom publicized. This researcher purports that the more of him/her self a professional athlete gives to promote his/her "image" as a professional athlete, the more his/her image may overshadow him/her as a person and/or his/her personal identity.

The following figure (1), for example, will more than likely bring the name of one contemporary professional athlete to mind, Tiger Woods. As the figure brings Tiger Woods' name to mind, it also illustrates the point that a sport can claim an individual's identity.

Figure 1: Spot that portrays Tiger Wood

To Be... To "be" a professional athlete like Tiger Woods, or even a relatively unknown professional athlete, a person has to commit his/her time, and/or money, as well as a lifestyle and "forms of collective expression, attitudes and social identity that develops in and around the activity." (Stamm and Lamprecht 1997; Midol and Broyer 1995 cited by Wheaton 11) Beal, and Wilson (36) point out that "being" a professional athlete may blur lines between "outside' commercial processes and 'insider' identity." They relate concerns Joe, a 20-year-old a skate shop employee, expressed, regarding the apparent increasing desires of young people to skate for external rewards such as perks high profile professional athletes receive, rather than keeping skate boarding sport real, Joe feels focus needs to be more on personal perks, and maintaining one's identity. Identity, according to Best 1998: 23, cited by Beal, and Wilson (33) depends on the negotiation among "youth cultural expression, the cultural industry and mass media representation." Thornton (1996, cited by Beal, and Wilson 33) notes ways the media and cultural industries prove central to the subculture's formation's process. The media produces symbols, including those depicting professional athletes; however, youth use the symbols in their own ways. Commercialism may permeate youth's social world, nevertheless, circulated symbols frequently adopt meanings foreign to the media's initial intent. (Beal, and Wilson 9) Because technology affects performance, innovation, as its intent, will continue to accelerate. Sweeney argues this to usually be a positive point and stresses that in a number of ways, the technological revolution has complicated the purity of athletic pursuit. "The ability of 'designer' drugs to escape detection with current testing will put the temptation of doping in front of every player in certain sports. It will also force organizations to confront uncomfortable questions about random testing and punishment." More positive developments include new surgeries which extend athletes' careers and enable primary players to recover from injuries that once instantly destroyed athletes' futures. (Sweeney) to continue to try to nurture their futures, some athletes regularly practice silencing their feelings and fears to ensure their minds remain quiet enough to compete. Consequently, some professional athletes begin serious post career agitation without knowing why they hurt so badly, or why they experience problems abandoning an athletic ability they cultivated since they were a child. (Marino 9)

Between Victory and Defeat in their study, Todd, and Brown note the value of athletes having an "edge" and utilize the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS; Brewer, Van Ranlte, & Linder, 1993, cited by Todd, and Brown), designed to assess the social, cognitive, and affective aspects of Athletic Identity. Todd and Brown discuss how some superstitious behaviors serve important functions. Some superstitious behaviors help athletes reduce anxiety, build confidence, and cope with uncertainty. (Neil, 1980 cited by Todd, and Brown). Developing and practicing superstitious behaviors, some research asserts, provides a way for athletes to cope with the uncertainty of sports competition. This sometimes reportedly gives them the winning "edge" between victory and defeat. To help their fans see their personal selves, some professional athletes reveal more about their identities through "blogs." Personal blogs offer a more direct connection between fans and professional athletes. Blogs permit sports figures to reveal glimpses of humanity that might otherwise remain hidden.

Glimpses of Humanity Adewale Ogunleye, Chicago Bears defensive end, admits he, as well as, a number of other professional athletes do not make a point to advertise their fears online, even though they may, at times, experience fear, due to their positions as professional athletes. "We may not look like it on Sundays, but we're human like anybody else. We bleed, we laugh, we cry and we have fear," (Drehs) Ogunleye said. And once your salary increases, Ogunleye says, so does the anxiety. "The more you make, the more you have to lose," the defensive end said. "If I was an undrafted free agent, I probably still would have thought somebody was trying to rob me that night in Miami. But I wouldn't have been as worried about it." (Drehs)

Increased pay for professional athletes frequently brings an increase in problems for them. Ben Wallace, who left the Pistons to sign a four-year, $60-million contract with the Bulls, reported he almost immediately felt he had become a "target," both on and off the court. (Drehs) "If you sign a big contract, everybody knows," Wallace, cited by Drehs, said. "They're going to print it in the paper. it's on ESPN. You can go online and check player salaries and all that. You're a target. We're all targets. You've just got to protect yourself the best way you can. "Professional athletes, most of us came from the streets. We feel like we know the streets and can pretty much protect ourselves," Wallace said. "But now we're in a position where we're being targeted, and the stakes are just too high. So, yeah, you might need that big guy standing next to you for a while." (Drehs)

The point Wallace presents, as well as, Ogunleye's words, this researcher notes, reflect a point related to a professional athletes promoting their "image." The primary point this paper purports, albeit, confirms the original proposition: the more of him/her self a professional athlete gives to promote his/her "image" as a professional athlete, the more his/her image may overshadow him/her as a person and/or his/her personal identity. The identity Tiger Woods projects, as noted earlier, relates to golf. Woods' name, as well as, a number of high-profile professional athletes' names routinely relate to particular products. A recent online news titles reported, "Gatorade deal estimated to pay superstar golfer as much as $100 million." Gatorade Tiger, Tiger's line of Gatorade, will soon be marketed. A number of other high profile professional athletes, such as Michel Jordan and others, also market products in and out of the home. (Tiger Woods)

Ogunleye admits he, as well as, a number of other professional athletes, not only sponsor particular products, some frequently experience excessive fear, due to their positions as professional athletes. "We may not look like it on Sundays, but we're human like anybody else. We bleed, we laugh, we cry and we have fear," (Drehs) Ogunleye said. His words, this researcher notes, as the points this paper purports, confirm the original proposition: the more of him/her self a professional athlete gives to promote his/her "image" as a professional athlete, the more his/her image may overshadow him/her as a person and/or his/her personal identity. Wherever a professional athlete may be, he/she would do well to remember to not to forget to remember that not only is he/she, in a sense, "from a different world" as a professional athlete, but that he/she is also at a point that, as one country song, aptly states: "Wherever you go - there you are." identity]: it ain't where you'r from, it's where you're at."