Professional sports is being overrun by the bad guy. Social Media, Television, and Talk radio fuel the flame for pro sport punks. Turn on any sports show and you will learn about one guy who said this, one other guy who wants to leave his team because of that. Is there still room for the good guy in professional sports?
The media recently made a strong statement rejecting the good guy. Tim Tebow has nothing but good guy on his resume. Set aside his various sporting accolades (two NCAA Football National Championships with the Florida Gators, first round NFL draftee finding playoff success for the Denver Broncos, baseball player excelling as high as AAA in the professional baseball system), and you are still left with a man who lives his motto ‘Living a Life of Significance’. Tebow’s philanthropic ventures speak for themselves including hosting annual prom events for mentally disabled teens, initiating aid for the needy, and countless other selfless efforts.
Tim Tebow was invited by the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer (coincidentally – his former college football coach) to try out for the team as a Tight End. For Tebow not ever having played the position before, the coach’s decision to invite him is curious but not surprising. Tebow played quarterback in college, but most media members and coaches alike said at the time that he was built more for the Tight End position anyway. Further, players not on existing rosters are bemoaning Tebow’s invitation exclaiming that they have more experience, and that Tebow is being invited due to privilege. News to anyone reading, with Coach Meyer’s job on the line, he’s not giving a cursory invite to Tebow because he’s a nice guy. Tebow is a fantastic athlete that all along could have trained as a tight end, and oh yea, he is a fantastic leader. Tebow is being panned for what appears like a “‘fingers in the dimples’ good golly guys I just want to play ball”, mindset. He’s also being panned for being outwardly Christian. Would Urban Meyer risk putting anyone on his tryout squad if they could not help his team succeed? If you think so, then you don’t understand how fickle the NFL coaching carousel actually is. The NFL and the media should embrace him for setting a much better example than many of the attention getters in the NFL.
The bad guy is even seeping in to the most unlikely of sports – the gentleman’s game of golf. Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka are heating up a petty rivalry in the PGA; these two seem to be artificially trying to become bad guys on the tour. While Brooks was mid interview during the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, Bryson stomped by loudly with his spikes clicking in stride during his golf day. Brooks rolled his eyes during the interview, and the spat continued. Bryson about Brooks’ lack of abs in a Sports Illustrated magazine, Brooks’ response with a photo of his four major title trophies. The PGA loves it because the brush up draws attention to a sport desperate to get eyeballs while their famed Tiger Woods fades into the sunset of modern golf. DeChambeau and Koepka have each remarked that the rivalry is good for the sport. I disagree. The rivalry may be good for them as individuals (attention equals a hefty bump in endorsements) but it is also a black eye on the face of the sport of golf.
Enter to the scene (or return to the scene), golf great and renown good guy Phil Mickelson. At the PGA Championship, the same event as the DeChambeau/Koepka spikes brush up, Mickelson was the darling of the tournament. Having not qualified for the event, he had to unceremoniously accept an exemption just to get in to the tournament. The fifty year old turned around nine days later and won the tournament, nearly wire to wire. With crowd size limits relaxed as the COVID-19 pandemic is hopefully drawing to a close, Phil could barely make it down the slope during his victorious walk to the 18th green on the final hole of his round. The gallery encroached on him nearly to the point of physically knocking him over as he made his way to the green to make his tournament clinching putts. Phil decided to get in on the twitter shenanigans recently when he tweeted a brief video reminding everyone that he won the PGA Championship. Even with his goofy twitter reminder, I’ll count his win as a score for the good guys.
More and more, bad guys are getting all of the attention in the NBA. Individuals are eschewing their current teams to create super teams hoping to multiply their chances for a title. Television stokes this mindset as it doesn’t advertise team matchups anymore. “Tonight watch as the Nets take on the Celtics” has been replaced with “Tonight watch as Kevin Durant and the Nets take on Jayson Tatum and the Celtics”. Individuals are now highlighted over the teams themselves. What is this, Tennis? As individuals in the NBA continue to selfishly collude to create super teams that can make pushes to the NBA finals, I will continue to argue that this is individualism and ‘bad guy-ism’ at its worst. The Brooklyn Nets are a leading recent example, and they are ending up with egg on their face. When a key member of their super team (see Kyrie Irving) was injured, the three legged stool that is the Nets was left with two legs and fell flat. The Nets team that clearly relied too much upon its stars rather than its overall team concept was left with a hefty salary burden and a team that will not win the title.
The Association has had good guys to lean on. Tim Duncan is a Hall of Famer that simply went about his business. Throughout his career, he played a strong game, and the most negativity you would see from him was a sneer before posting up again and again for the San Antonio Spurs. Like Tebow, Duncan is dedicated to helping others, and has done so both during his playing career and after. The Tim Duncan Foundation aids in the areas of health care and education, both in the continental 48, and in the US Virgin Islands where he was born. Much credit goes to the Spurs longtime coach Gregg Popovich. There are few NBA teams that coach to team (rather than coaching to the individual) but the Spurs are one.
The players who have played for him admire him, and so do the coaches. I had a few minutes to chat several years ago with a former assistant from one of Popovich’s camp programs, and I just asked him – what is Pops like? Accolades spouted regarding leadership, coaching the sport, and caring for the individual. Whether it is an individual invite from Popovich to visit and share his favorite wine, or a phone call from him during a great moment (birth of a child) or a dark day (death of a parent), the former aide explained that Popovich’s coaching was clearly motivated by leading and developing the whole individual, not just growing the parts that could help the Spurs win a title.
Popovich doesn’t talk much about a ‘Spurs Way’. However his teams generally show it with their effort and class; the Spurs are a direct reflection of their coach. Kawhi Leonard was a member of the Spurs who sat out most of a season due to a variety of unclear ‘injuries’. Leonard was clearly mentally on his way out of San Antonio. Popovich took the high road. Not much commentary positive or negative, but he also didn’t beg him back to the team. Kawhi left for an upstart Toronto team where he could be the top dog – he led the team to a title in his lone season with the Raptors. Popovich could have slammed Kawhi for his selfishness, instead he simply let him go. Popovich is a rare NBA coach that develops and encourages the good guy. “But Kawhi won the title in Toronto, what’s wrong with that!”, you say? After that lone year in Toronto, Kawhi bailed again landing with the LA Clippers. So much for staying to help a team or build a lasting champion. Popovich = Good Guy. Kawhi = quiet guy, still a bad guy.
Stephen Curry is the ultimate good guy champion on the Golden State Warriors (and coincidental to Tebow, also an unashamed Christian). The Warriors are a group that was assembled with great teammates, first coached by Mark Jackson then later by Steve Kerr. (Jackson set the table for Kerr to take the next step with the Warriors to the championship. That discussion may be worthy of its own post.). Throughout his career, Steph Curry has just gotten better and better. With multiple championships to his name, and becoming the NBA’s career leader in three point shooting, he is a shoe in Hall of Famer. He continues to display good guy status in rough times; he stuck with his Warriors team even during teammates injuries and other issues the past two years. Many stars would have departed at the drop of a hat if immersed in the same situation.
Steph got some attention in 2020 when Ja Morant (a solid upstart in the NBA) posted some smack talk on twitter. “… iann scared of him” . Only problem is – at the time, the Memphis Grizzlies (Ja’s team) hadn’t yet played the Warriors with Steph Curry. Curry took the banter in 2020 lightly, then lit up the scoresheet in May of 2021 when the Warriors played the Grizzlies. 46 points for Curry, and the 46 points on that night clinched the NBA scoring title for him. Thanks to Larry Brown Sports for an article that lays out the tiff. Needless to say, Curry got the last laugh without coming off as a jerk.
If you listen to talk radio, you won’t hear nearly as much about Steph Curry as you will about lesser ability NBA athletes. Steph Curry is about his team’s successes, he’s not all about himself. Tim Tebow doesn’t play the social media game to get more personal attention. Gregg Popovich is never going to get the most likes or shares on social media. Tim Duncan has never made for must listen radio, nor did he sell many television advertisements. Regardless, there’s still room for the good guy. The good guys make for what should be good, the games.
Paul MacDonald - Sports Broadcaster 