04-15-2016, 01:21 PM
It does amaze me how we dehumanize anyone who is viewed as "famous" or "rich". I don't remember who I was listening to on a podcast, but they made the point that we tend to take away an athletes ability to be human, as if they shouldn't be allowed to act or react a way that another human being might.
Ultimately it seems like we treat a lot of things like they're malicious, when in the long run most things are benign. I probably would have the same reaction to most people if they constantly attacked me just because I had a bigger salary than them. It's not a justification for constant personal attacks.
We're in this spot where people want athletes to be honest, and then we rip them unmercifully when they give an honest answer. It's just a bizarre spot.
Before anyone says "He should stay off of twitter, then!", I highly doubt it's just a social media thing. Yeah, that might be a lot of it, but really it's an anywhere in life thing. If this is the worst thing an athlete ever does, I think it's a win.
Ultimately it seems like we treat a lot of things like they're malicious, when in the long run most things are benign. I probably would have the same reaction to most people if they constantly attacked me just because I had a bigger salary than them. It's not a justification for constant personal attacks.
We're in this spot where people want athletes to be honest, and then we rip them unmercifully when they give an honest answer. It's just a bizarre spot.
Before anyone says "He should stay off of twitter, then!", I highly doubt it's just a social media thing. Yeah, that might be a lot of it, but really it's an anywhere in life thing. If this is the worst thing an athlete ever does, I think it's a win.
