Sheamus Dalton
Johnny Manziel is a man among boys on the field and a boy among men off. Manziel, more commonly referred to as “Johnny Football,” broke numerous passing and rushing records of both the SEC and the FBS variety in his first season with Texas A&M. Not including his Cotton Bowl victory against Oklahoma, Manziel finished the 2012 season with nearly 3,000 yards passing and over 1,000 yards rushing. Oh, and he won the Heisman trophy as a freshman. The boy can play and has, without a doubt, earned his nickname.
Almost as impressive as his statistics on the field is his conduct off of it. Manziel succeeded in remaining aloft in the public eye for the majority of his offseason. Images of Manziel in party settings, alcohol in hand and promiscuous women aplenty, coursed through sports media, revealing a side of his persona that most high profile college athletes would deny having. Even after he was dismissed from the Manning Passing Academy for having missed events due to his alleged “dehydration” (a.k.a. hangover), Manziel never seemed to repent for his actions or recreate a positive image of his off field lifestyle, or at least, he never seemed to do so in a convincing manner.
In my opinion, Manziel is an exception. Most of the top college athletes, those who have to live their lives in full view of the public eye, seem to take special care to promote themselves as people of strong character off the field. I have never gotten this impression from Manziel. I instead understand Johnny Football to be a prominent college athlete who intends to enjoy his college experience, parties, drinking and bad choices included.
As college athletes ourselves, how can we identify with Manziel and many other prominent college athletes before him? Should we be placed under the same scrutiny? Should we be expected to rise above the temptations and disregard the vibrant Wooster nightlife simply because we are students who wear the College’s jerseys? I mean, we only play Div. III, right? SportsCenter won’t be mad if we have a few PBRs and slam a handle with some bros, right?
This is a tough question. I think that athletes have to decide this for themselves. Everyone holds his or her own personal values that he or she can use to judge the significance one is willing to place on the social scene versus one’s athletic obligations.
Regardless of this ideology, I still have my own opinion, one that everyone should take into account as they evaluate their own social choices.
As DIII athletes, we are not the cream of the crop. We will most likely never make a living playing our sport or even watch highlights of our play on ESPN. We do, however, have a common passion for athletics. We play because we want to and we love to. We do it for the fellowship, the fitness for life; we do it for the fun of it.
This is what I love about being a DIII athlete, and it is something I think we all should handle in a serious manner. None of us want to do anything to hurt our ability to play, to enjoy playing the sport we love and the success of our team. However, sometimes drinking can have this effect. If we were all to choose between a win and “Woo Wednesday” I think we would all take the win. With little more to play for than the pride, we should all go to great efforts to perform at our highest level. If we are all truly dedicated to our teams, we need to ensure that we are acting in ways that will establish a culture of winning and commitment.
We are also very much products of our coaches, teams and school. Our actions on and off reflect all those involved in our training and education. So, yes, that Wooster jersey should mean something. We have obligations to act appropriately as Wooster athletes and to represent our school athletic program in a positive manner. We may never have our social lives exposed to the public, but this doesn’t mean that we should disregard this responsibility. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard.
I do not think that this argument is lost on most of the athletes here on campus. The majority of the athletes I know share this opinion and take their athletics as seriously as I believe we should. While I am not saying we must refrain indefinitely (I will be the first one to admit I have placed my social life ahead of my athletic responsibilities once or twice), I think we all owe it to ourselves to think hard about our social decisions during weekends and the occasional Wednesdays. We are all part of something greater than ourselves. Let’s not squander our opportunities to put Wooster ahead on the scoreboard. Our drunken, disorderly and unathletic friends can celebrate for us when we do.