IN THIS era, professional sport and its link to the media is inevitable.
Without an accessible media rights deal, I, along with the other 720 players in the AFL and thousands of other athletes in Australia, don’t get paid.
We understand that, and oblige to the end that broadcasters have greater access than ever before to almost anything they would like to see or hear - even if it is behind closed doors.
Without this accessibility the game - be it AFL, netball, tennis, rugby union or league - does not get to the people and it does not survive. It is a necessity.
However, modern coverage now incorporates more than just the game and more than just the results on a weekend.
Getting the information first is paramount whether it be sport, politics or business, while ensuring the accuracy of the facts are often a distant second.
It’s not only fashionable to blog, Facebook or Twitter your every move, it is news (see Australian cricketer Phil Hughes).
More than ever before an athlete’s personal life is newsworthy, or depending on the circumstances, hot gossip.
You would have to have been living under a rock to not be aware of the myriad examples of this over the past few years over a variety of sports.
And, unfortunately, it is almost never “feel good” personal news that is highlighted.
Athletes are role models. Like it or not, we have no choice and I personally embrace this element of the game.
You not only have to be talented athletically and have a tremendous work ethic, but it will help your prospects if you are able to pass the psychological profiling with flying colours and be a good, solid citizen.
But seeing as the landscape of information sharing has changed and the reporting of athletes' personal issues seems to have increased steadily, I have begun to wonder what the public’s perception of the modern sportsperson really is.
Has the ‘sportsperson brand’ been enhanced over recent times, or has it diminished? From where is the perception being driven and by whom? Does what the media report actually reflect the public’s thoughts?
One could argue that professional athletes commit more hours to leadership and development initiatives, drug and alcohol awareness in the community, as well as study to improve themselves as people away from their sport.
But does the public actually believe that athletes have a good overall balance in their lives?
I for one would like to think that they see us as more than just overpaid jocks.
Whatever the wider belief, the facts are that we are ostensibly just a cross section of society.
We are human beings who have families and friends. We are not robots and we face the same trials and tribulations as the next person.
And just like any employee of a law firm, a construction company or an accountancy firm, we may at times make mistakes. Like everyone else, we will have to deal with them, learn from it and be better prepared as a result for future events.
Whether this is right or wrong I often feel for individuals who have their laundry aired in public, but media scrutiny is a reality that we have to face.
It’s a hard pill to swallow for some.
We have made this career choice and need to understand the demands that come with that. For the most part we recognise the responsibilities that come with being a professional athlete and understand that at times we may become newsworthy for reasons other than our on-field deeds.
Does society put athletes on a pedestal? Maybe.
But perhaps it comes with the territory. Or perhaps it’s just society's obsession for athletes to be perfect in every sense of the word - it’s what invariably drives those unrealistic expectations.
After all, we too are only human.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
