During our days in school many of us have known some former high school athletes who thought they were the greatest athlete and person alive.
One can imagine how bad it would have been if these guys made it to the pros? You really have to admire, I think, the confidence and success needed to make it all of the way into professional sports.
The roots of the ego tree would have to grow larger, as the “superstar” evolves from high school through college and into the big time with the possible scenario of the athlete believing the world revolves around him or her.
There are hundreds of players, coaches and owners of professional teams who can be used as examples. There is the “God given star” whose ego is out of control and puts everyone on the team, including the coach or coaches, on the edge of disdain for the guy. Some of these super Type A personalities have had moments of tantrums, finger pointing and putting the blame on teammates and coaches after a lack of a stellar performance.
It gets to a point where not only the fans have had enough, but so has the team and it’s ready to move on without the egocentric demigod.
There are many of these self-worshipping individuals I can think of who are in the pro ranks. One of these guys is the notoriously famous Manny Ramirez. As part of the Red Sox, Dodgers and a Triple A rehabber, Manny had performed many nefarious acts that were ugly and mean-spirited. As a Red Sox player, he tried to fight in the dugout with former teammate Kevin Youkilis, pushed Boston’s traveling secretary to the ground when his request for 16 tickets was not met and asked out of games in an effort to force a trade. Additional incidents, such as playing a game with a water bottle in his back pocket, disappearing into Fenway’s Green Monster for a bathroom break and lying to the Red Sox on multiple occasions—including his blatant story for missing All-Star workouts in Seattle in 2001 because his grandmother had died.
Then there’s Terrell Owens and no one can question the work he put into himself physically as an outstanding receiver in the NFL. He’s a gym rat who is second in all-time touchdown catches, but his success comes with a lot of baggage. He has questioned authority with each team he has been with: San Francisco, Philadelphia and Dallas. Owens is like the guy that girls love because they think they could turn this guy around. He was cut from Seattle and is now hoping that New England might give him a shot at 39 years of age. He hasn’t played in the NFL since 2010. The Patriots don’t seem interested and Owens feels it’s because of his history as a “brat” and not because of his age. Sounds like solid reasoning to me, but the Boston Globe thinks the Pats should give him a shot.
I can think of a number of professional athletes to fill in the blanks as spoiled bad boys. Prima donnas like Randy Moss, former San Francisco 49er and now football TV analyst, the New York Rangers Sean Avery, who has been known for putting himself before his team but was dismissed by the L.A. Kings and Dallas Stars because of his selfish attitude, Alex Rodriguez, Tiger Woods, Charles Barkley, LeBron James, Barry Bonds, Kobe Bryant, Dave Beckham, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Lance Armstrong. This is just the tip of the iceberg; there are many more high profile brats in professional sports with the reputations of selfishness.
I have always felt, as a coach and player, that if athletes are as good as all the hype that accompanies them and they believe what the newspaper clippings say, then humility needs to be part of their demeanor. An athlete needs to let his or her game do the talking for them, not the boasting that some of these characters like to use to promote themselves.
In other words, don’t tell me, show me!
Don’t give the impression to the fans that there is a super-ego inside of that uniform. I have always had difficulty with that “I am the greatest” attitude, a phrase that was coined by Muhammad Ali.
When the boastful king has fallen from his high horse, there seems to be little sympathy from the serfs. I hate to see kids at any age at the scholastic levels and lower begin to see themselves as being a great. They dream of being in the limelight with the thought of graduating as the big fish in the pond of the sports world.
Just notice what has happened to some of these professional sports figures over the past decade or so. When they fall, they fall hard and because of their lack of humility, many of these superstars have a difficult time recovering from their broken egos.
As a coach, my advice to the young athlete is simple: feel good about yourself and what you can do in your sport. Believe that you’re the best inside, but on the outside, be humble and give your teammates the credit they deserve for playing a big part in your performance. Show respect to your team and opponent. Act with class. Remember that there is never room for a demonstrative ego.
If you made the winning basket, touchdown, or goal, in most cases there had to be a pass from a teammate. Share the glory of the moment or game and be humble. It will pay back with dividends.
