“Where is the Character?”

“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.