I use the number 28 in almost everything I’m associated with. It’s in my passwords, it’s in my Gmail account and it’s even in my Twitter handle. The number helps define me.
The number is a reference to Adrian Peterson, one of the best running backs in the NFL and my favorite athlete. He is a player I’ve always admired and defended since he joined my favorite team.
He’s also a person I’ve never met in my life.
Fans of athletes need to be aware at all times that they don’t know the people they cheer for and can’t put them on pedestals. It’s the hard fact many dealt with last week, as controversy seemed to arise in nearly every sport with multiple athletes or owners.
One day, the Ray Rice video leaked. The next day, Atlanta Hawks’ management became racist. Another day, Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis failed a drug test. And on another, Peterson was indicted for hitting his son.
Not knowing what these players are capable of doesn’t mean we have to stop cheering for them. Until they show us otherwise, an athlete should be judged as we judge any other person — innocent until proven guilty.
The problem is the line many fans cross — a line between admiring players and worshiping them — a line I’ll admit I’ve crossed before.
Fans buy players’ jerseys and make them their Facebook cover photos. When allegations surface about that player, fans react in different ways — sometimes disbelief, sometimes regret and sometimes denial.
Few things have baffled me more than watching Ravens fans wearing Rice’s jersey before a game Thursday and defending the running back. Men and women who had watched the video still felt enough of a connection with Rice to support him.
These people had watched Rice for so many Sundays, they started to believe they knew him.
Not all of the actions by athletes were equally severe, and some of players can easily be defended or forgiven. I’ll make it clear that I’m not referring to the Atlanta Hawks organization or Rice.
Davis failed a drug test, but it was for Adderall, a supplement less enhancing than what many players have been caught for. Davis said he used the drug last year with a therapeutic exemption, but he didn’t have the exemption when he used it this year.
My roommate, the biggest Baltimore sports fan I know, has forgiven Davis and understands he made a mistake. At the same time, he has to watch the Rice video knowing he cheered for that guy for six years. That sticks with a person.
Peterson was indicted for punishing his child with a switch, an action still practiced by many parents in this country. I’d never hit my child and I find it wrong, but I recognize that it’s something deep-seeded in many as the way to handle a noisy or misbehaving child.
Nevertheless, I’ll be changing my Twitter handle later this week. I will eventually get over what Peterson did, but I’m taking the lesson I learned with me. I can’t go around praising guys like Peterson and ingrain them into my life.
Sports fans everywhere need to stop painting athletes as heroes and start recognizing them as people.
People can be heroes, they can be racists and they can be criminals.
As a fan, you just don’t know.
Tommy Romanach is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from Dallas, Texas. You can reach him on Twitter @troman_28.