“Where is the Character?”
There
is a cost to character! The question one
must ask is this. Am I willing to pay
the price to be a man or woman of character and therefore excellence?
CHARACTER CRISIS
Consider
a case in point. The owners along with
management of an NFL team lead the head coach to believe that though the
season has not gone well, he will be continued in his position. He is allowed to go out into the community and speak about the season ahead and his hopes for the team. At the same time and unbeknown to the coach the team owners and management approach another coach
and hire him to replace the current coach.
Where is the character of the men who did such a thing?
The
new coach accepts the position knowing full well that because he does so, the
current head coach will be fired. There
is no indication that he surfaced concerns as to the commitments made to the
present coach. Where is the character of
the man who did not do so?
Consider
another case in point. The head football
coach of a university has repeatedly and openly stated his commitment to remain
in his current position. As the season draws to a close and unknown to
the faithful he is approached by another university to become their head coach. Even though the team is going to a bowl game, he accepts the new position and leaves immediately for the new
position. Where is the character of the
man who did such a thing? Where is the
character of the university that approached him, asking him to leave before the
season is over?
Consider
another case in point. The university
that lost the head football coach does the same thing to another university as they approach their head coach. That coach accepts the position even though
his team has not completed its season and is bowl game bound. Again, where is the character of the university
and the man who accepted their offer before his season was over?
Not
only is there a character crisis on the part of the NFL organization, the two
universities mentioned and the three coaches referenced but there is a very clear message
sent to the teams and the students. It
is this. Commitment and therefore character
does not count for the sake of expedience, for a winning season, and for one’s
personal desires and convenience.
CHARACTER/IDENTITY FORMATION
A
brief survey of the literature yields the point that character begins to be
formed somewhere between the age of three and twelve BUT one does not establish
ones’ identity in and of themselves until sometime between 20-25 years. Further those with troubled pasts, from
broken homes, and those experiencing other kinds of mental-emotional trauma
will slow the process.
CHARACTER/IDENTITY ILLUSTRATED
Here
is the seriousness of this matter.
Take
a high schooler who in middle school begins to show some talent for
football. His coach plays him a great
deal and he becomes a standout. He goes
on to high school where he again receives special treatment and begins to view
himself as special.
He
is then recruited out of all of his peers to play at one of the universities referenced
above. Remember now this is while still
in a character/identity formation modality.
He is still trying to find himself and here is a leader, the head
football coach. This is the man who
leads his referent group the team. He is
a man who presents a persona to be admired.
Our
young man is under his leadership for the next four or five years. His character/identity is continuing to be
formed, largely influenced by this group is being led by a head football
coach. Let us then say that he makes the
NFL team in question at age 21 or 22. He
again is selected ahead of his peers and part of his formation is that he is
special and because he is special he can live beyond the expectations of
others. Remember he is still in
formation mode and he now begins to see and be influenced by others like team
owners who have possessions, power, position, and prestige.
So
now his world is distorted by his being “special” and his referent group, the
team is populated by role models who are men who live above what is normal for
most folks. These very same men make
decisions not based upon character but upon expedience.
Now
here is the question. What kind of a
person does he become whenever it is that his character/identity formation
nears completion? His head football
coach has abandoned a commitment made for an opportunity. The universities have made decisions because
to win at any cost is a cheap price to pay.
The owners of his NFL have the same attitude. No one has made the tough character decisions
and the player is still in his character/identity formation stage of life.
THE OUTCOMES
The
names that could be listed are common to many sports fans. One CNN poll spoke of NFL felons, rapists, and
ex-convicts. Others could be added such
as alcoholics, the sexually promiscuous, gang bangers, drug abusers, and those guilty of gross misdemeanors, etc. Is it any wonder to any of us that these
sports heroes whose formative years were spent being told they are “special”
and falling under the men of “character” as described above end up as moral
decadents?
THE CHALLENGE
It
is time for those who have been entrusted with the education of those in
character/identity development in the classroom, on the sports field, and in the business
of sports to establish standards of character.
Not just establish them but live by them, model them, and yes, require them of these young athletes. It is time to evaluate men not on winning seasons but on how they
model and thus contribute to the formation of integrity, honesty, thrift, and a whole host of
other character qualities.
MY PROTEST--I GIVE UP
If it matters to you which I am sure it does not, now you know why.
Why, with the
exception of soccer, I’ve given up on professional sport in general and the
Seattle Seahawks and Mariners in particular.
Why I’ve
given up on the magic of opening day and holding our country's flag on that opening day at Safeco . 
As well, why I have given up on college sports in
general and University of Washington sports in particular.
Will I miss them? Yes, of course. I will miss the Saturday afternoons and Sunday afternoons immersed in a game.
Will they miss me? No, they do not know I exist so it will not matter to them but I know I
exist and therefore it does matter to me. Guess
I will try high school sports and see how that goes.
