By Zachary Gross, Sports Editor, ’14

Over the past couple years, the sports universe has been rocked by scandal after scandal. No sport has been left unscathed as fans from college football to track have been left questioning the integrity of their respective sport’s brightest stars. Fans are slowly realizing that their heroes and role models are oftentimes morally flawed people.

Take for example the case of Oscar Pistorius, a South African sprint runner who had both of his legs amputated at the knee when he was 11 months old. Last year, he captivated the world as the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics. He was a hero to many, signaling how long odds could be overcome with hard work. But now, a mere six months later, he is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend. In many people’s eyes, he is no longer a hero or someone to look up to, but a criminal who represents the worst in our society: success turned into a sense of entitlement and audacity.

Last year, one of sports most admired moral crusaders, the late Joe Paterno, fell painfully from grace. Paterno, the famed head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for forty-five years, was embroiled in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal in late 2011 that ended up costing him his job. Paterno was not only a paternal figure for his team, but also provided ethical guidance and inspiration for thousands of people around the country. But now, the very man who many looked up to is now associated more with turning the other cheek towards allegations of sexual abuse than for his moral rectitude.

Pistorius and Paterno are just the beginning of a list that includes the likes of Ben Roethlisberger, Tiger Woods, and Lance Armstrong.

We look up to athletes because they seem to be so god-like and infallible on the court. Famous athletes become for many young and impressionable fans an endless source of inspiration and imagination. So how do we differentiate between admiring athletes’ personas on the field, and their moral flaws that come to light off of it? It can be a difficult differentiation. It is important to always be cognizant of the fact that being a good athlete does not make one a good person. Although they are immortalized, our favorite stars are only human, with the same tendencies to make mistakes and poor judgements as anyone else.

News Editor Siddarth Kannan ’14 acknowledged the potential that sports role models can have, saying, ““I think that they are definitely sports stars that can be adequate role models, but it’s more important to see them as the people that they truly are instead of idealizing them.”

Ultimately, as Kannan said, it’s all about having reasonable, informed views on the athletes, acknowledging their strengths along with their weaknesses. As long as fans understand that the athletes they admire are humans and not demigods, they can begin to respect athletic talent without becoming too crushed by moral misgivings, and continue to have a positive relationship with their favorite sports teams and the stars that play for them.