Athletes should be judged only by performance

We admire athletes for their physical prowess and their ability to contort themselves and perform feats we previously thought unimaginable.

Many people, from young boys  and girls to grown adults alike, place athletes on a pedestal, forcing them to become role models.

None of us distant observers of the game actually know the moral character of these athletes.

When accounts of bad behavior are reported, fans are first shocked and indignant.

The athlete engages in damage control. The public relations firm gets to work and the player’s image starts to be revamped.

Gradually, we accept the athlete’s triumphant story that he has indeed changed, and then we root for him again.

Consider Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Ben Roethlisberger and Michael Vick.

All of these athletes did something immoral that the general public doesn’t approve of. Fortunately for the athletes, fans have amnesia.

All of the athletes’ problems are fixed by doing one simple thing: winning.

Roethlisberger, the Steelers quarterback accused of rape and sexual assault this summer, was a pariah. He served a four-game suspension because of his history with the law, and many women’s rights groups were calling for the Steelers to bench him.

Next Sunday, he’ll be playing in the Super Bowl, America’s most widely watched sporting event.

Although talk has died down about his dropped rape case, the discussion now is whether he can pull off his third championship.

In an April 2010 poll, 68 percent of Steelers fans wanted Roethlisberger suspended and 23 percent wanted him traded.

There is less of a fuss about their alleged rapist quarterback now.

Especially not after he led them through a hard-fought AFC championship game against the tough New York Jets.

And not after he played through a broken nose in a regular season win over the Baltimore Ravens, which ended up securing their first-round bye week.

They are standing by their role model, claiming he’s changed.

Their about-face is completely acceptable. Unless you have some allegiance to the Packers, rooting for Roethlisberger is perfectly fine. It’s not because of the dramatic change in his image and his attempt to charm the media at every turn. The allegiance lies deeper than that.

Fans desperately want the players to be perfect. They aren’t. They are not meant to be idolized for their morals. They should be respected for their athletic ability. And their job is to win games.

Although we might root for them as superstars, we more celebrate the team. That team-first attitude is what sports should be about.

If you’re still hung up about the potential transgressions that Roethlisberger might have committed in Milledgeville, Ga. last summer, don’t be.

The charges were dropped, and Roethlisberger still served a four-game suspension. He sat out an appropriate amount of games because he brought a black mark on the NFL.

His suspension was warranted, but it is unfair to hold a grudge against the man who will make his third Super Bowl appearance this weekend. Many will not ever be able to support Roethlisberger because of those accusations.

But there are things that many athletes do under the table that the public would wholeheartedly disagree with if they found out about them.

Most people have a strong sense of morality and values, athletes included, but sports are not necessarily about values only.

Though values are important in life and sports, most athletes’ legacies are defined by how many championships they win or lose.

Charles Barkley once famously declared, “I am not a role model.” He was, in essence, trying to tell fans to judge him not on his off-the-court behavior, but by the result of the games he played in.

This is a sentiment fans should take to heart.

Winning is the fundamental reason we root for athletes in the first place. There’s no reason to get on our high horse in regard to Roethlisberger.

As fans, we have collectively embraced athletes with flawed pasts once they start to win again.

This time should be no different.

Cyrus Behzadi is a freshman majoring in communication. His column, “The Extra Point,” runs Wednesdays.