When people think of the life of collegiate and professional athletes, they tend to only think about the glamorous aspects of it. Whether it be their ‘celebrity status’ or lifestyle that their occupation allows them to live, many people believe that these athletes have an easy life so to speak. This perception is based off of the highlights of these athletes lives that are publicly exposed, but many people do not incorporate their perception what goes on behind the scenes. This leads them to view athletes in this narrow realm of sports without thinking much else of them. There are a variety of different false perceptions and stereotypes that people have on athletes. One most detrimental ones that I have observed is the jock perception that is placed on athletes.
This is one of the most common perceptions that I have seen on athletes. This stereotype implies that people who play sports care less for their academics and have a less intellectual knowledge. The often times causes society to categorize these people as strictly athletes, with not much to offer outside of sports. Not only does this stereotype lower these athletes self esteem, but it also may hinder their actions. This is a stereotype that Student-athletes are faced with on college campuses across the nation. A study showed that student-athletes who enter exams believing the jock stereotype scored lower than student-athletes who were not accustomed to the jock stereotype. (Diekfuss) The effects that this stereotype can have on student-athletes can stay with them at the next stage of their lives. This perception of these student-athletes can make them limit themselves to only striving to accomplish goals in their sports, and not think about what they have to offer outside of sports.
Something that comes to mind when I think about people placing athletes in a categorial box is the topic of politics. There have been a number of occasions in american sports history that demonstrates how athletes used their platform to bring awareness to social and political issues. Some of the most memorable athletes that have done this includes; Muhammed Ali, Jesse Owens, Lebron James, Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapino, Jackie Robinson, and many more. All these athletes faced the same backlash of people telling them, ‘stick to sports’. Or in recent times the infamous quote of Fox reporter Laura Ingraham telling Lebron James to, “Shut up and dribble.” When Lebron was recorded expressing his views on political issues during the 2018 NBA season, Ingraham rebuked him on national television for giving his two cents on the widely discussed topic. She spoke in a way to implied that Lebron had no intelligence outside of basketball calling his comments “barely intelligible” and “ungrammatical”. Rather than limiting himself to the human being that Laura Ingraham perceived him as, James did they opposite. Instead he launched the #MoreThanAnAthlete movement and documentary. The movement received tremendous support and has been huge in advocating for athletes to express their intellect outside of their respective sports.
Colin Kaepernick is another prime example of society placing athletes in a box. Kaepernick generated one of the most historic protests in sports history. During the 2016 NFL season, Colin Kaepernick would kneel during the national anthem to protest social injustices towards people who faced oppression. This ultimately led to a large amount of controversy regarding politics. Many people including politicians themselves publicly criticized Kaepernick’s actions, deeming him un-American and unintelligent. This had a extremely conflicting effect in politics. The backlash forced people to choose sides, blinding the opposing side from even comprehending what his protest was even about. Headlines all over were not about how Colin Kaepernick was protesting against issues such as police brutality on african-americans, but rather how he had ‘No respect for America and it’s veterans of the armed forces’. Since Kaepernick was a football player, people did not care to hear what he was trying to say in the first place. The notion that he was not knowledgable enough to speak about topics outside of football was enough for people to disregard his opinion anyways, nonetheless go against the norm of standing during the national anthem.
This perception of athletes is more detrimental than it appears. This is especially true due to the large percentage of minorities that play professional sports. Some of the most influential people of color in the United States are athletes. They are admired for what they do in their fields of play which allows them to have powerful voices that are heard. Whether it be in the press, social media, or an actions like Colin Kaepernick, it is essential that athletes of color use their platform to speak or these types of social issues that are present in America. They can speak for a wide category of people whom may not have a voice that is heard. By limiting these athletes to ‘stick to sports’ it not only oppresses them, but the people that are affected by the social issues that they are bringing awareness to. The fact of the matter is, athletes have much more to offer to the world than their physical performances during their respective competitions. Society does not limit an entrepreneur from chasing different business ideas, or an artist from venturing into their creativity. Society definitely does not refrain people who are not in the realm of sports from critiquing athletes in their own sports. So why does society limit the knowledge of athletes outside of sports?
Works cited
Diekfuss, Jed. “The Dumb Jock: How Stereotype Threats Impact Student-Athletes’ Standards of Academic Competence.” MINDS@UW Home, 1 Aug. 2012, https://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/63058.
Russell, Scott, et al. “The 20 Most Political Athletes in U.S. History.” Pastemagazine.com, 19 July 2019, https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/07/the-20-most-political-athletes-in-us-history.html.
Miller, Kathleen E. “Sport-Related Identities and the ‘Toxic Jock.’” Journal of Sport Behavior, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2009, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3107047/.
The Student-Athlete 