So Much For Marvin Harrison

It's funny, I just finished writing a piece on the modern athlete last week and praised Marvin Harrison as one of those quiet hard-working guys who is all business. I wasn't aware of a previous incident when he supposedly choked a young fan asking for an autograph (then again I've heard horror stories from fans regarding everyone from Dan Marino to Alonzo Mourning). All it took was a couple of days for Marvin to make me look pretty dumb.

The ongoing investigation into a shooting involving the Colts' receiver has now turned up shell casings from a gun that belongs to Harrison. Oops. I'm not entirely sure what a guy like Marvin is doing with such a powerful gun (armor piercing? Jesus), but I'm going to refrain from making any judgment on that until we get a little more information. Regardless, this is quite the PR nightmare for him.

I thought it was an interesting situation because the timing of my article was perfect to illustrate how we can't idolize these guys too much. We hear about how great Zach Thomas is, how he studies film so diligently, buys a hyperbolic chamber in the offseason to improve his performance, and how he takes football incredibly seriously. You see him at charity events and raising a family. But do you really know him? It's tough, because we often look up to these guys growing up as kids not knowing anything about their personal lives.

The fact is football players and other athletes are human beings. They make mistakes and nothing is ever black and white, good and evil. Everyone hates on T.O for being a prima donna, but how many fans know he was raised by a cruel grandmother who wouldn't let him go out, or how he fell in love with the girl down the street before the girl's father showed up one day and said Terrell couldn't date her because she was his sister. That's bound to screw you up.

I think we have to be careful and try hard to distance ourselves from athletes as heroes. For all I know, Zach eats baby kittens for breakfast. I'll still always love the guy for what he's done for the fans and for the city of Miami, but I know from experience that my kids' role model will be someone he knows and understands, not some guy on TV that could end up disappointing you when he doesn't turn out to be the ideal person you thought he was.