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When the mighty fall. Pro athletes and the media: how to mitigate and manage a scandal

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When the mighty fall. Pro athletes and the media: how to mitigate and manage a scandal

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Content WHEN THE MIGHTY FALL 
PRO ATHLETES AND THE MEDIA: HOW TO MITIGATE AND MANAGE A 
SCANDAL 
 
 
 
 
 
 
by 
 
 
 
Nicole Marie Anthony 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A Thesis Presented to the  
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS 
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS) 
 
 
 
May 2011 
 
 
 
 
Copyright 2011  Nicole Marie Anthony 
 

ii
Dedication 
 
This thesis is dedicated to my parents, Kathy and Jeff Anthony, for 
inspiring me to continue my education and not to take the easy way out. You 
both have accomplished so much in your lives and I can only hope to be half as 
successful as you both are. Thank you for always believing in me and always 
encouraging me to follow my dreams. Without your love and support, I would 
not be who I am today and I would not be where I am today. You have taught me 
that education is most important and you have done everything to make that 
possible. It is for all of these reasons, plus many, many more, (especially for 
providing the funds for me to even write this thesis) that I am dedicating this to 
you both. 
 
Thank you. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

iii
Acknowledgements 
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, friends and 
professors for everything they have done for me during this process. 
To my Dad—thank you for spending countless hours discussing sports 
and professional athletes with me. Thank you for being my ‘editor,’ for reading 
and commenting on all of my drafts. I would never have finished without you. 
Thank you for listening to my panicked phone calls and for inspiring me to find 
my true passion in life—the world of sports.
To my Mom—thank you for listening to all my problems and for 
sympathizing with me. Thank you for making everything seem ok, and helping 
me not ‘sweat the small stuff.’
To my sisters—Katrina and Jordan—without you both, I would never 
make it through a day. You are my best friends and thank you for always 
listening to my complaints about school and life; I hope I haven’t made graduate 
school seem like too much of a nightmare! 
To Jake—I’m sure that by now you are very tired of talking about Magic 
Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods, and fortunately, you do not have to hear 
their names ever again. Thank you for being silent on the other end of the phone 
and letting me vent my frustrations and feelings to you. Thank you for offering 
your help and support, even though you have law school to deal with. It means 
more than you can imagine. 
To Jennifer Floto—I cannot thank you enough for answering all my 

iv
emails, and reminding me to just relax. Thank you for advising me throughout 
this process and for pushing me to make this thesis the best it could be. Without 
your help, this thesis would be non‐existent. 
To my committee members—Jon Kotler and Dan Durbin—thank you for 
being the sports gurus and agreeing to guide me through this past semester. 
Thank you for quickly editing my thesis even though I didn’t give you much time 
to do so. And most of all, thank you for being supportive. 
To everyone at USC—thank you for an amazing 4 ½ years. I could not 
have asked for a more worthwhile and memorable undergraduate and 
postgraduate collegiate experience. The educational, social and athletic 
experiences I’ve gained at USC have made me proud of the person I have become 
today. I will always be a Trojan for life. Fight on! 
To all my friends—Thank you for making me laugh. Thank you for taking 
my mind off of my thesis. I know most of you couldn’t understand what I was 
going through, but thank you for being there for me when I needed you the most. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

v
Table of Contents 
 
Dedication ii
 
Acknowledgements iii 
 
List of Tables vii 
 
List of Figures viii 
 
Abstract ix 
 
Chapter 1: Introduction 1 
Chapter 1 Endnotes 3 
 
Chapter 2: Glossary 4 
 
Chapter 3: Background 
What is a Sports Hero and Why are they Important to Society? 7 
Chapter 3 Endnotes 12 
 
Chapter 4: Evolution of Social Media 13 
Chapter 4 Endnotes 16 
 
Chapter 5: History of Sports and Media  
Sports and Traditional Media 17
Privacy Disclosure Laws 20 
Sports and Social Media 22 
Athletes use of Social Media 24 
League Restrictions of Social Media 26 
Chapter 5 Endnotes 30 
 
Chapter 6: Sports Figures in Today’s Society 32  
Chapter 6 Endnotes 36 
 
Chapter 7: Literature Review 
When Winning Costs too Much 37 
Tiger‐The Last Installment 650.4 38 
Should Athletes be Role Models? 39 
The Professional Athlete’s Right of Publicity 39 
The Herd with Colin Cowherd 41 
NPR with Toure 42 
The Two Way Street, Star Athletes and their Private Lives 43 
NBC Sports with Ethan Skolnick 44 
 

vi
Chapter 7 Endnotes 47 
 
Chapter 8: Method 48 
 
Chapter 9: Results 51 
Chapter 9 Endnotes 59 
 
 
Chapter 10: Case Studies 60 
Magic Johnson 62  
Kobe Bryant 63 
Tiger Woods 65 
Chapter 10 Endnotes 67 
 
Chapter 11: RACE Analysis 69 
Magic Johnson 69
Kobe Bryant 72 
Tiger Woods 74 
Chapter 11 Endnotes 77 
 
Chapter 12: Analysis 79 
Chapter 12 Endnotes 82 
 
Chapter 13: The Do’s and Don’ts of Representing Professional Athletes 83 
 
Chapter 14: Conclusion Section 85 
 
Bibliography 88 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

vii
List of Tables
 
Table 1: Respondent Demographics 51 
 
Table 2: Social Media Usage 57 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

viii
List of Figures
 
Figure 1: Career Aspirations at Youth 52 
 
Figure 2: Current Role Models 53 
 
Figure 3: Are Athletes Entitled to Privacy? 54 
 
Figure 4: Total Views of the Studied Athletes 55 
 
Figure 5: Importance of Sports and Social Media to Society 58 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

ix
Abstract
 
The famous John Wooden once said, “Sports do not build character. They 
reveal it.” With the scandals professional athletes are becoming involved in 
today, a serious character problem seems to exist in the sports world. Too many 
athletes are becoming involved in illegal and immoral activity. It is the public 
relations professionals job to be ahead of these problems and handle them 
before they become out of control. This work speaks to how to successfully 
manage and mitigate these scandals.
In our society, the influence of professional athletes is immense. They 
impact the lives of children and many of us still admire them as role models. If 
these same athletes demonstrate immoral and illegal behavior, then we need to 
be concerned. Social media is ever present, and in order to prevent our children 
and society from becoming exposed to these scandals, public relations 
professionals need to step up and handle them correctly.
To investigate how and why these scandals become so out of control, the 
author researched and analyzed three high‐profile cases involving professional 
athletes, the impact the cases had on society and on their image as athletes. The 
author also examined the role of social media and the impact it had in spreading 
awareness of these scandals. Lastly, the author offers recommendations to 
sports public relations professionals on how to successfully represent 
professional athletes in matters of crisis management.

1
Chapter 1: Introduction 
“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is mangiven. Be grateful. Conceit is 
selfgiven. Be careful.” (John Wooden)
 
Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, made 
headlines in Fall 2010 for returning to practice after the NFL suspended him for 
being involved in sexual assault allegations. This was the second time in a year 
that Roethlisberger was accused of sexual misconduct. The assault story was 
featured on major networks including ABC Sports, ESPN, and Fox Sports. It was 
reported in major print sources including the New York Times, the Los Angeles 
Times, the Huffington Post, and Newsweek. The scandal swept America and 
showed just how big an impact sports and sports stars have on our society. 
It’s safe to say that America loves to watch sports. The 2010 Lakers 
playoff series attracted more than 18.14 million viewers nationally and the 2010 
final round of men’s golf U.S. Open averaged 11.7 million viewers
1
. American 
viewers enjoy watching their favorite teams and their favorite players compete.
Out of all the players on the team, attention and admiration is given to certain 
individuals who display seemingly superhuman qualities and achieve feats that 
no one else can. These athletes become the sports heroes America loves to 
watch. Yet, with so many athletes being featured in the news for their faults 
instead of their achievements, why is America still so accepting and forgiving of 
these athletes? 
This thesis will focus on professional athletes and media invasion into 
their private lives to understand why America is so obsessed with sports stars 

2
and what makes them heroes. It will look at the issue of privacy and how social 
media plays an important role in an athlete’s personal life. This thesis will try to 
shed light on why so many sports public relations professionals are abandoning 
the basic rules of public relations, and letting their clients become involved in 
scandals that get far out of hand. Analysis of important cases including the Magic 
Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods scandals will reiterate why it is 
necessary for public relations professionals to have an adequate crisis 
management plan to handle these situations.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

3
 
Chapter 1 Endnotes 

1
EPG News Service, "Sports Top Local TV Ratings As Viewers Tune Into 
NBA, FIFA, US Open," Art & Entertainment, (EPG News, 24 Jun 2010). 
http://egpnews.com/?p=18917. 
 
 

4
Chapter 2: Glossary 
Glossary of Common Terms 
Social Media: Web‐based services that allow individuals to construct a public or 
semi‐public profile within a bounded system, articulate a list of other users with 
whom they share a connection, and view their list of connections and those 
made by others within the system. Networking is also included to emphasize 
relationship initiation, often between strangers. Top Social Media platforms 
include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Myspace, YouTube, Flickr and Digg. 
Professional Athlete: An athlete who plays professional sports, as opposed to 
amateur sports, in which players receive payment for their performance. In the 
U.S, professional sports leagues include the National Football League (NFL), 
Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), the National 
Basketball Association (NBA), the Women’s National Basketball Association 
(WNBA), Major League Soccer (MLS), and the Olympic Teams.
Libel: A published or fixed form of defamation of character; a civil wrong that 
falsely challenges the reputation or character of a person or entity, opening the 
target up to public scorn or ridicule. Libel might appear in a magazine, book, 
newspaper, online, or in a radio or television broadcast. Signs, billboards or 
posters can also be mediums for libel.
Slander: The spoken or transitory form of defamation of character, a legal term 
that refers to a falsehood presented as true which could harm the reputation of a 
person or entity. Slander also encompasses body gestures as in the case of sign 
language. 

5
Media Invasion: The media’s invasion of privacy into an individual’s personal 
life. It is possible to define four different, though overlapping forms of privacy 
invasion: intrusion upon a person's seclusion or solitude; appropriation of a 
person's name or likeness; public disclosures of embarrassing private facts; and 
publicity which places a person in a false light. 
Personal Life: The course of an individual’s life, especially when viewed as the 
sum of personal choices contributing to one’s personal identity. The concept of 
personal life also tends to be associated with the way individuals dress, the food 
they eat, their schooling and further education as well as their hobbies, leisure 
activities, family, relationships and cultural interests. What an individual does 
when he/she is not in the public eye and in the privacy of his/her own 
environment. 
Endorsement: Is also known as a testimonial in advertising, written or spoken 
statement approving of some product, typically a contract to promote a product 
by a celebrity or athlete. The celebrity implies use of a product or brand creating 
validation and credibility, usually in exchange for some type of compensation. 
Right of Publicity: The right of publicity is generally defined as an individual's 
right to control and profit from the commercial use of his/her name, likeness 
and persona, which is typically referred to as the "individual's identity." 
Protecting the individual from the loss of commercial value resulting from the 
unauthorized appropriation of an individual's identity for commercial purposes 
is the principle purpose of this body of law. It is generally considered a property
 

6
right as opposed to a personal right, and as such, the validity of the Right of 
Publicity can survive the death of the individual. 
Contract: A legally binding agreement between two or more parties which, if it 
contains the elements of a valid legal agreement, is enforceable by law
 
or by 
outside court action. A legally enforceable contract is an exchange of promises 
with specific legal remedies if the promises are not met. These can include 
compensatory remedy, where a party is required to pay money that would 
otherwise have been exchanged; or an equitable remedy such as Specific 
Performance, in which the person who entered into the contract is required to 
carry out the specific action that was agreed upon.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

7
Chapter 3: Background 
"He understood that we would give him anything—if he would always be 
the hero we required." (Richard Ben Cramer, “Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's 
Life”) 
What Are Sports Heroes and Why are They Important to Society? 
As prevalent as sports stars and heroes are in our society today, there 
have long been heroes of sport who have proven themselves on the playing field 
only to later falter and fall from grace. Even recently we have seen numerous 
high‐profile athletes get mixed up in criminal activity or make unethical 
decisions. Yet as a society, we still tend to forgive these athletes no matter what 
they do and continue to worship them for their contributions to their respective 
sport. When do sports figures earn the title of hero and why do we still follow 
them even when they let us down? To understand the immense impact that 
professional athletes have on our society, it's important to first understand what 
a sports hero is and how a professional athlete actually becomes one.
According to Angie Hobbs, professor of philosophy at the University of 
Warwick in England, "Heroism is doing something of outstanding benefit to 
one's society that most would find impossible to perform, and some athletes do 
meet that criteria"
2
. Hobbs argues that heroism does not only apply to sports 
stars, but that in today's society, most people name their favorite sports star as 
their hero. Many sports stars become heroes that fans admire because they 
perform and achieve feats that a normal individual would not be able to 
accomplish.

8
These sport heroes unite many people in celebration when games are won and 
in feelings of defeat when games are lost. Yet being a hero involves more than 
just athletic ability. Jennifer Warner, a writer and researcher at WebMD states, 
Throughout history, heroes emerged from war and gained their title of 
hero by sacrificing themselves or risking their lives to save others. But 
sports allow heroes to emerge in times of peace. In order to be truly 
heroic, athletes have to do more than just show physical prowess on the 
playing field
3
.
 
Only when you have two components together—that your society thinks you're 
doing something of outstanding benefit, plus what you're doing is something 
most people couldn't perform either through mental ability, physical skill, or 
quality of character—then you've got the possibility of heroism. A perfect 
modern day example of these two components is with professional cyclist Lance 
Armstrong, who not only displayed great physical strength and endurance, but 
mental determination and courage. He won the prestigious Tour de France an 
unprecedented seven straight times, from 1999‐2005. He was a top amateur 
cyclist until after the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, when he began a successful pro 
career. In 1996 Armstrong discovered that he had testicular cancer, which had 
spread to his brain and lungs. After surgery and chemotherapy, Armstrong 
returned to cycling in 1997. Two years later he won his first Tour de France, and 
then repeated the victory the next five years in a row. In 2005, he won the Tour 
for a seventh time, and then retired from cycling. In 1997, after beating his battle 
with cancer, Armstrong started the “Livestrong” organization which works to 
improve the lives of people affected by cancer, and whose work now has 

9
expanded to reach every corner of the globe
4
.
Sports stars have an “extra” quality that we admire. Psychologist Stanley 
Teitelbaum explains society’s need for heroes when he says,
Sports stars become heroes when they are admired for their athletic 
accomplishments. We yearn to feel connected to them, want to be like 
them, and enhance our self‐esteem by imagining an association with them 
and basking in the glow of their success
5
.
 
We are conditioned early on to be involved with and be connected to the sports 
world. Millions of children grow up playing sports as a way to be involved and 
remain active. According to Sports Business Daily, nearly 63% of youngsters 
aged 6 to 17 participate in team sports, with about two thirds of that number 
participating frequently. The participation rate hit its highest point at the age of 
11, when 72% of all American youngsters that age play at least one team sport
6
. 
Yet even with so many children playing sports, only a few people actually 
become stars. Sports stars are the people that the rest of us want to be, who we 
dreamt of being and what many of us wanted to be when we were young. They 
are they best at the sport they play and are known worldwide for their amazing 
athletic abilities. They showcase what so many of us longed for as children and, 
consequently, are the heroes that children look up to today.
Bruce Ogilvie, a renowned sports psychologist, has noted that one of the 
top reasons why men watch football is to recapture and relive their early 
adolescent years. Through their identification and emotional participation in the 
sport, they vicariously relive this period in their life. For most of the men who
 

10
have played football or another sport, these sorts of vicarious satisfactions have 
very positive rewards and effects
7
. According to Teitelbaum, “the opportunity to 
reminisce and extend the connection to our own days of athletic glory is also a 
factor in our involvement as sports spectators
8
. Regularly watching or rooting 
for one’s favorite team allows sports fans to feel connected to a bigger 
community and recall being part of an actual team. Being able to chant, “We’re 
number one!” after a championship makes fans feel united and special.
In his book, Why Men Watch Football, Bob Andelman points out that 
contemporary people are desperately searching for heroes in their lives. We 
want role models at a time when the ranks of positive role models are fairly thin. 
Therefore, many athletes who may be undeserving of our loyalty have been 
glorified by the press to be something they may not be in actuality
9
. People 
search for identification with winners, a figure who is effective, capable and one 
who knows how to get things done. Having a favorite sports team and player 
meets these needs. As Teitelbaum reinforces,  
The need for heroes frequently merges with a powerful emotional 
investment in the fortunes of sports franchises. The hero becomes a more 
concentrated extension and embodiment of the cherished team. People 
often feel connected through their shared allegiance to the home team, 
especially when a local team is succeeding
10
.
 
Psychologist Robert Cialdini has noted that often, people’s self‐image is 
bolstered or depleted depending on how well their team does, “winning and 
losing teams influence the morale of a region, a city or a college campus.
 

11
A substantial segment of the community may actually have clinical features of 
depression when their team loses.”
11
 The emotional investment in the fortunes 
of the team is tremendous and becomes entwined with an individual’s self‐
regard. These top teams produce the best, super star athletes that are well 
known and therefore seen as being the true “heroes” to society. They are the 
same ones athletes who cause the biggest uproar if they make even the slightest 
mistake. Complicating matters is the fact that media today has helped heighten 
public awareness of these mistakes and transform missteps into extraordinary 
scandals.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

12
Chapter 3 Endnotes 

2
Warner, Jennifer, "Do We Need Another Sports Hero?" WebMD, (Medicine 
Net, 20 Aug 2004). 
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50345. 
 
3
Warner 2. 
4
"Our History" Livestrong, Livestrong Foundation, 2010. 
http://www.livestrong.org/Who‐We‐Are/Our‐History/Milestones. 
 
5
Teitelbaum, Stanley, Sports Heroes, Fallen Idols, University of Nebraska 
Press, 2005.
 
6
"Team Sports Participation in the U.S. Up for Organized Leagues," (Sports 
Business Daily, 2008). http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/123897. 
 
7
Teitelbaum 5. 
 
8
Teitelbaum 5. 
 
9
Andelman, Bob, Why Men Watch Football, Acadian House Publishing, 
1993, Page 47. 
 
10
Teitelbaum 5. 
 
11
Cialdini, Robert. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Collins, 1998.

13
Chapter 4: Evolution of Social Media 
“Privacy is dead, and social media holds the smoking gun.”
(Pete Cashmore) 
Since their introduction, social network sites (SNSs) such as Myspace, 
Facebook and Twitter have attracted millions of users, many of whom have 
integrated these sites into their daily practices. There are hundreds of social 
networking sites, with various technological attributes, supporting a wide range 
of interests and practices. According to the Postgraduate Medical Journal, in 
March 2009, there were over 350 such sites in operation across the Internet
12
. 
Some sites cater to diverse audiences, while others attract people based on 
common language or shared racial, sexual, religious, or nationality‐based 
identities. Sites also vary in the extent to which they incorporate new 
information and communication tools. What makes social network sites unique 
is not that they allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable 
users to articulate and make visible their social networks. This can result in 
connections between individuals that would not otherwise be made. Social 
Media is seen in the sports world as a way for athletes to communicate with fans 
and even endorse products. The evolution of social media can be traced to a few 
major milestones: 
• The first recognizable social network site launched in 1997. 
SixDegrees.com allowed users to create profiles, list their friends and surf 
their friends lists.
 

14
• Each of these features existed in some form before SixDegrees, but were 
not all placed together on one social networking platform
13
.
• In 1999, LiveJournal listed one‐directional connections on user pages.
• While SixDegrees attracted millions of users, it failed to become a 
sustainable business and in 2000, the service closed.
• “From 1997 to 2001, a number of community tools began supporting 
various combinations of profiles and publicly articulated Friends. 
AsianAvenue, BlackPlanet and MiGente allowed users to create personal, 
professional and dating profiles”
14
.
• Teenagers began joining MySpace, launched in 2003 to compete with 
sites like Friendster and AsianAvenue, by the thousands in 2004.
• In July 2005, News Corporation purchased MySpace for $580 million 
attracting massive media attention
15
. The story was featured front‐page 
of the New York Times and Los Angeles Times Business sections, and 
gained attention overseas with the BBC News. It was also featured in 
many business publications including Business Week and the Economist.
• In February 2004, Mark Zuckerberg, a sophmore at Harvard University 
started Facebook as a way for college students to interact
16
. 
While MySpace attracted the majority of media attention in the U.S. and abroad, 
SNSs were proliferating and growing in popularity worldwide. Social media 
exploded into the mainstream in 2009. Facebook currently has over 500 million 
active users
17
, which is about one person for every fourteen in the world, and
 

15
Twitter now has over 145 million registered users
18
. One of the areas in which 
this social media trend has proliferated is in the world of sports.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

16
Chapter 4 Endnotes 

12
Farmer, A D. "Social networking sites: a novel portal for communication" 
Postgraduate Medical Journal (2009). 
http://pmj.bmj.com/content/85/1007/455.abstract. 
 
13
Boyd, Danah, and Nicole Ellison, "Social Network Sites: Definition, 
History, and Scholarship," Journal of ComputerMediated Communication (2007). 
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html. 
 
14
 Boyd and Ellison 3. 
 
15
Boyd and Ellison 4. 
 
16
Yadav, Sid "Facebook‐The Complete Biography," Mashable 2006. 
http://mashable.com/2006/08/25/facebook‐profile/. 
 
17
"Statistics" Facebook, Facebook, 2010. 
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics. 
 
18
Van Grove, Jennifer, "Twitter Surpasses 145 Million Registered Users," 
Social Media, Mashable, Sep 2010. http://mashable.com/2010/09/03/twitter‐
registered‐users‐2/. 

17
Chapter 5: History of Sports and Media 
“We have an emotional craving to be connected to each other and to our 
favorite teams.” (Merritt Colaizzi) 
 
Sports and Traditional Media 
Before the social media outbreak, traditional media forms relied heavily on 
sports to fill their papers and segments on television. Both sports and the media 
today have been changed by the far‐reaching social, economic and technological 
change that have characterized the 21
st
century. The exposure to and 
consumption of media products, including those regarding sports, have 
increased dramatically. Television has become a principal leisure activity and 
source of information and our experience of sport has become increasingly 
constructed and ordered through television output. According to David Stead, 
contributor to Sport and Society, “Both sports and media have developed 
extensively and rapidly as major global industries. Each plays a significant part 
in structuring and informing people’s lives. Each has a global and local scope of 
operation
19
”. Take the recent 2010 World Cup in South Africa for example. The 
World Cup is a global phenomenon that has fans from all over the world glued to 
television sets for weeks, just to see if their country will make it to the 
championships. In 2006, the World Cup had a live audience of 322 million 
viewers and a reach of 638 million viewers globally. In 2010, the number of 
viewers increased by 5%, with a record number of 42% of them being female
20
.
 

18
This is a perfect example of how sports and media have come to shape our 
world. They allow us to unite together as a community and to share in a special 
experience at the same time as other people all over the world. Locally, sports 
events are viewed in sports bars and living rooms on big screen televisions with 
fans cheering all around them. Sports games are streamed live on radio stations 
and Internet sites to give fans up‐to‐date information. Sports information 
represents a huge chunk of media coverage on a daily basis. The Lear Center 
Report, a March 2010 study of a typical half‐hour of LA media market television 
news, showed that after eight minutes of advertisements, the next highest time 
slot was three minutes devoted to sports coverage. Two out of ten broadcasters 
also led with sports related topics
21
. The way in which sport fills newspaper 
pages and television and radio schedules bears testimony to the influence it has 
on the structure and direction of media activity, “two industries tied together in 
complex networks of relationships. Their histories of development have been 
fueled and influenced by the dynamics of this partnership. Sport income has 
generated directly and indirectly from the media”
22
. The media has without a 
doubt helped make sports and sports stars what they are today and helped 
create the huge influence they have on the public. The world of sport is a 
competitive one, not just in terms of which team tops the league or who wins the 
gold medal, but also which sports attract the greatest financial resources. The 
relationship with the media is central to the political economy of sports. 
Traditionally, it has been the medium through which key information such as
 

19
schedules, events, matches, venues and times were transmitted to the public. 
Today, social media offers fan interactive attractions such as polls and blogs to 
create wider exposure to advertisers, sponsors and audiences. The greater 
penetration of the media into the world of sport has had an impact on the 
relative status of particular sports and on the relationships within sports. Sports 
such as football, basketball, baseball and more recently hockey, are especially 
attractive to the media and have gained far greater status, exposure and 
economic wealth compared to other sports. These sports are known to be highly 
revenue‐generating and have become attractive options for sponsors and clients 
to invest in. Football, basketball and baseball are all the most popular sports 
because they occupy the greatest media attention, and consequently, the 
greatest public attention. Most of the top‐earning players and sports heroes in 
the sports world play for one of these revenue‐generating teams. The sports 
world has become a franchise, and the media has capitalized upon this. Media 
now gives us a first hand, behind‐the‐scenes look at what is going on in the 
sports world: only recently has the public had glimpses into locker rooms at 
halftime, for example. In the past, interaction with players was rare. Eager fans 
read what was published and saw the occasional interview and if they were 
lucky, got to yell at their heroes from the stands in hopes of an autograph. Media 
now has changed all that and allowed us to interact with our favorite players on 
a more intimate and personal level, which in terms of privacy has drastically 
changed the equation. Not only has mainstream media picked up on this new
 

20
tactic, but social media has become the leader in this move to a more personal 
interaction between fan and athlete.
 
Privacy Disclosure Laws 
Professional athletes are the subjects of increasing media attention. In 
addition to high profile reporting of their off‐field activities, the performance of 
professional athletes is constantly discussed among fans and the media. Because 
of this move to media invasion, there have been many lawsuits between 
celebrities and the media. Despite many debates about the issue of a professional 
athlete’s right to privacy, there are still privacy disclosure laws in place for those 
in the public eye. This issue is ingrained in the professional sports culture and 
constant scrutiny by the media and fans is a reality of professional sports. In 
regards to journalistic reporting about celebrities, the New York Times v. 
Sullivan case created the malice standard that states, "The public figure must 
prove actual malice to prevail in a defamation claim, and in some states, private 
figures must prove actual malice when a published statement concerns a matter 
of public interest" 
23
. Celebrities often try to sue reporters for libel and slander. 
However, because of this standard, journalists have full right to publish stories 
about celebrities unless said story directly harms the individual in some way. 
This law affects sports stars because they are celebrities and people of genuine 
public interest. Furthermore, the law also addresses this issue of sports stars 
and clearly states that there are "two types of public figures: general purpose
 

21
public figures and limited purpose public figures. Almost every court addressing 
the issue has determined that professional sports personnel are public 
figures”
24
. The legal system has reasoned that sports stars are celebrities and 
will be treated as such when it comes to journalism. Although the media has a 
great deal to do with the public's opinion of sports stars, media outlets are still 
entitled to express their own opinions. The public must recognize this when 
reading or viewing information about favorite sports stars. Many reports are 
purely opinion based, many lacking fact checking or other forms of journalistic 
review, which also contributes to the media invasion frenzy that happens when 
an athlete makes a mistake. David Beckham, a soccer player for the LA Galaxy, 
has been in the news for his alleged affairs with prostitutes. This story was 
published in US Magazine and Beckham is trying to sue the magazine for libel
25
. 
Again, these opinions are still protected by law, as Charles L. Babcock states, 
"Many statements by the media about professional sports are opinions that are 
protected by the Constitution. Statements of pure opinion, as opposed to those 
that imply facts, are protected under the First Amendment"
26
. Because 
professional athletes are public figures, the media can write personal opinions 
about them, or report on their personal lives if it is of public interest. This 
scrutiny and debate is the price an athlete pays for his or her notoriety and 
career as a member of the professional sports world. In the case of the scandals 
studied in this thesis, one can argue that this information and cause for media 
invasion was because of public interest.
 

22
Sports and Social Media 
A number of athletes have embraced this status as public figures and use 
social media as a way to package and endorse themselves for fans. Many use 
social media to announce public appearances because it acts as a direct appeal to 
fans that is social, casual and personal. Athletes also use social media as a way to 
encourage fans to vote for them in competitions such as all‐star balloting 
campaigns. Social media has allowed athletes to act as their own “PR people” by 
maintaining a personal relationship with their fans to build their brand and 
inform the public of their everyday activities. In doing so, social media allows 
athletes to build a bigger fan base and an online community to share information 
and be seen on a more human and personal level. Super Bowl XLIII MVP 
Santonio Holmes is using Twitter and Facebook to ask fans to vote him into the 
Pro Bowl
27
. Baltimore Raven’s linebacker Ray Lewis invites fans to enter the 
“Meet Ray Lewis” contest via Twitter
28
. The Bengals’ Chad Ochocinco posts 
updates about arriving for the team plane or what its like to prepare for a tough 
game
29
. PR practitioners should think of social media in these instances as “me 
media,” as personal branding. Although social media allow athletes to promote 
themselves on a personal level, there are many other ways in which social media 
can add to sport organizations, franchises or even individual team identities. 
There are six ways in which social media is changing the business and culture of 
professional sports: personal branding, lifestreaming, intimacy with fans, civil 
engagement, empowerment and “me journalism.” All are designed to help
 

23
athletes and sports organizations use social media to their advantage to further 
their images and brands
30
. First, personal branding allows athletes to use social 
media as a self‐promotional tool, as a way to package themselves for fans. With 
social media platforms such as blogs, social networking sites and photo sharing 
sites, many athletes find it easier and more economical to use these tools to self‐
promote. Second, lifestreaming is one of the most revolutionary aspects of the 
digital media landscape because it allows users to be their own producers of 
content. Online destinations such as YouTube and Flickr allow athletes and sport 
organizations to post hour‐by‐hour status updates on the whereabouts of the 
team and game activities. The constant presence of cameras nowadays suggests 
that these entities are being watched and having to perform. Thirdly, intimacy 
with fans allows athletes to connect with their fans on a more personal level. 
With the increasing costs and glorification of sports landscapes it is difficult for 
most fans to attend games or matches in person. The average cost for a family of 
four to attend an NFL game is $321.62; an NBA game is $263.44; an NHL game is 
$253.65; and an MLB game is $164.43. All of these prices are expected to 
increase steadily over the upcoming years
31
. Civil Engagement is another way 
athletes can use social media to promote various social causes and philanthropic 
efforts with which they are involved. Athletes can Tweet or use their Facebook 
pages to inform fans of a worthwhile cause, and rally supporters to help join in 
on the cause. In this way, social media acts as a civic tool. Fifth, Empowerment is 
another aspect that athletes tend to gain from using social media.
 

24
Many athletes are using social media to express their dissatisfaction with the 
control culture of sports. Tweets regarding fines they’ve received, trash‐talking 
other teams and personal performances have become common on athlete’s 
Twitter accounts. Consequently, many athletes also use Twitter as a way to 
apologize for misconduct during a season, rather than using traditional media to 
get this message out. Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson allegedly 
made a gay slur during an exchange with one of his Twitter followers, and later 
had to apologize over traditional media and over Twitter
32
. For some athletes, 
social media feels like a source of freedom and empowerment, a means to say 
what they want and not be muted. Finally, social media has become a sort of “Me 
Journalism” tool for athletes to tell their own stories and directly challenge what 
they perceive as biased reporting. Many athletes refuse to talk to reporters, 
something that contributes to unfavorable coverage. Social media now gives 
athletes a platform to speak out without fear of being misquoted or 
misrepresented
33
. Social media is transforming the culture of sports, both for 
individual athletes and large‐scale sport organizations, allowing us to witness a 
world that promises to be busy and one that is constantly changing.
 
Athletes use of Social Media 
As noted, more and more athletes use social media as a way to connect 
with fans on a personal level and give them behind‐the‐scenes details of the 
game. As Jay Mathis from Next Level Management Firm, which specializes in PR
 

25
states, “These are the most popular features for fans because fans love updates 
that traditional media don’t always have access to, such as locker room photos or 
updates from team road trips
34
”. When athletes share details of their most 
mundane tasks, joys and frustrations, fans are fascinated. They feel a personal 
connection with these athletes when they see they really are normal human 
beings. Social Media acts as an entertaining alternative for fans to learn more 
about their favorite athletes. Ochocinco launched the “OCNN” Network 
(Ochocinco News Network) earlier this year, which gave behind‐the‐scenes 
information and footage from the 2010 NFL Draft. The network program was 
hosted by the #3 draft pick overall, Gerald McCoy, who had first hand footage of 
the draft in progress. OCNN is the first athlete‐driven social news network
35
.
 
Social media also gives athletes a way to promote various social causes and 
philanthropic efforts they join. Shaquille O’Neal used his Twitter account to 
invite his 2 million followers to make donations to their local toy store for his 
“Toys for Tots” toy drive. Lance Armstrong also uses his Twitter account to 
update his 2 million‐plus followers about cancer‐related news and medical 
discoveries. In preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Nestlé Crunch teamed 
with the 2008 gymnastics gold medalist Shawn Johnson and 2006 short‐track 
speedskating gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno for a Facebook‐led social media 
campaign to promote their flagship candybar
36
. We tend to think of social media 
strictly as “me media” but pro athletes, like many others, embrace these tools as
 

26
“we media” as well. In efforts like these, the power of celebrity and social media 
converge for some worthwhile results, even though many owners and executives 
in athletic organizations tend to disagree.
 
League Restrictions of Social Media 
Unfortunately for professional athletes, their respective sports leagues 
haven’t always been receptive to the social media revolution. Like many 
corporations, some sports leagues have shied away from the idea of allowing 
their assets—their players—to tell the world what’s going on right this minute, 
especially if this minute is happening during a game or at a team’s facility. To 
control this, leagues such as the NFL have insisted that players sign a “good 
behavior” contract to ensure athletes are acting appropriately
37
. Other leagues, 
however, have embraced the world of social media as a way to generate more 
interest and, ultimately, a larger fanbase, which is especially important for teams 
and players in smaller markets. As of this writing, the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB 
all have regulations regarding use of social media prior to and after game play. 
These restrictions include when an athlete can post updates and what can be 
said
38
. These policies were made mainly to give traditional media sources ample 
time to get their interviews and questions done before athletes are able to Tweet 
this information themselves. Sports reporters are entitled to certain game 
information, and this new regulation ensures that this continues to happen. The 
rule also dismisses any trash‐talking or secret team information being leaked
 

27
into social media platforms. Giving athletes a 90‐minute time frame when they 
cannot Tweet after games, allows them to cool off and prevents any major crises 
from being reported in the mainstream media. As Jacqui Cheng states, 
The NFL has made headlines lately for its aggressive anti‐Twitter policies 
and enforcement. In July 2009, the league clarified that it forbade players 
from tweeting during games, but that this wasn’t a new policy—it was an 
extension upon an already‐existing policy against the use of cell phones 
while a game is in progress
39
. 
 
As with the NFL, the NBA also announced in September 2009 that players, 
coaches and team personnel would be forbidden from using cell phones and 
other handhelds during games. In this case, “during games” includes the 45 
minutes before the game and 45 minutes after the locker room doors have 
opened to the press, once the game has ended. This also includes halftime and 
timeouts. Players or personnel who violate these rules risk being fined, although 
a number of players don’t seem to be worried about this ban just yet. The NHL 
on the other hand, has so far welcomed social media, 
The NHL helped organize NHL Tweetups earlier this year, a site focusing on 
getting Twitter‐using fans together to watch various NHL games. More 
recently, the NHL ran a contest on Twitter to give away tickets to fans. 
Unlike the other leagues, the NHL has yet to announce an official policy 
banning (or allowing) the use of Twitter and Facebook during games or 
practices
40
.  
 
However, one entity that’s settled firmly in the middle is Major League Baseball. 
Not only has the MLB issued a rather popular iPhone application that has social 
media tools, but the organization also maintains an active Twitter account. Social 
media is prevalent within this league as a means to constantly inform fans of 

28
activities and upcoming games. However, the MLB has already spent more than a 
year trying to curb real time reporting on games from reporters, in the form of 
blog posts or cell phone pictures or anything in between. The rule states, 
Media can post no more than seven photographs from any games—no 
photo galleries—and audio/visual is limited to two minutes with no 
streaming. The MLB does its own streaming through the iPhone app and 
through its own website
41
.
 
Another interesting twist on social media and sports is its use by coaches. From 
community college to Division I, coaches like Pete Carroll are leveraging social 
media as a recruiting, a scouting and reporting tool. However, the NCAA has 
recently become very strict with regulations regarding social media. Especially 
because the athletes are still students, there are numerous restrictions on having 
social media accounts and even using social media altogether. While the 
apprehension surrounding the union between professional athletes and social 
media carries some validity, ultimately the benefits will outweigh the risks. 
We’re seeing the beginning of something that will transform all aspects of sports 
interaction. Social media is a complement to sports and athletes, but can act in 
detriment fashion because it gives fans free reign to post anything they want 
about an athlete—positive or negative. While it presents a few new challenges, 
the opportunities are abundant and everyone from the athletes on the field to 
the network executive can reap the rewards. Now is the time to make a product 
the best it can be. To let the fans, players and broadcast talent own their 
opinions and game experiences, and combine this content to engage with fans
 

29
like never before. However, athletes can’t be a “brand,” and want to create a 
fanbase for themselves and then object when the media invades their personal 
lives. The only way for an athlete to become famous and globally recognized is to 
get his/her name and face out in the public arena. Social media acts as the new 
outlet to create fame and buzz for athletes and celebrities. By becoming involved 
with social media, athletes are also taking a huge risk by letting fans become 
involved in their personal engagements. Yet they must realize that they cannot 
“have their cake and eat it too.” If athletes want to be famous and well known, 
they must accept this. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

30
Chapter 5 Endnotes 

19
Stead, David "Sport and the Media," Sport and Society: a student 
introduction, 2008. Barrie Houlihan. SAGE, 2008. 
 
20
Brand Republic, "2010 World Cup will be watched by record number of 
viewers," FIFA World Cup (Football‐Marketing, 11 Jun 2010). 
http://www.football‐marketing.com/2010/06/11/2010‐world‐cup‐will‐be‐
watched‐by‐record‐number‐of‐viewers/. 
 
21
Norman Lear Center, "Lear Center Report: sports & weather, crime, fluff 
dominate L.A. TV news," USC Annenberg (The Norman Lear Center 2010). 
http://annenberg.usc.edu/News%20and%20Events/News/100311LearNews.as
px. 
 
22
Stead 1. 
 
23
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964). 
 
24
Babcock, Charles, and James McCown, "Sports and the Media" Jackson 
Walker L.L.P (1997). http://images.jw.com/com/publications/139.pdf. 
 
25
Tooley, Heather, "David Beckham allegedly cheating with married woman 
in affair scandal" (Examiner, 1 Oct 2010). http://www.examiner.com/pop‐
culture‐in‐portland/david‐beckham‐allegedly‐cheating‐with‐married‐woman‐
affair‐scandal. 
 
26
Babcock and McCown 10. 
 
27
Holmes, Santonio, "Facebook," 4 Dec 2009. 
http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=47296978199&share_id=168250352
874&comments=1. 
 
28
Neder, Mary Ann, "Gameloft’s NFL 2010 Kickoff Event, Meet Baltimore 
Raven’s Ray Lewis" (App Modo, 11 Aug 2009).
http://appmodo.com/2773/gamelofts‐nfl‐2010‐kickoff‐event‐meet‐baltimore‐
ravens‐ray‐lewis/. 
 
29
Ochocinco, Chad. "Twitter." http://twitter.com/ogochocinco. 
 
30
Meyer, Caitlin "Twitterball: Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Ochocinco 
and the Future of Sports" Sports and Social Media (The Young and The Digital, 4 
Dec 2009). http://www.theyoungandthedigital.com/sports‐and‐social‐
media/twitterball‐tiger‐woods‐ochocinco‐lance‐armstrong‐and‐the‐future‐of‐
sports/. 

31

31
Marquette Law, "The Cost of Attending Professional Sports" Sports 
Facility Reports 6.1 (2005). http://law.marquette.edu/cgi‐
bin/site.pl?2130&pageID=2245. 
 
32
"Johnson apologizes for gay slur" (ESPN, 28 Oct 2009). 
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4599204. 
 
33
Meyer 4. 
 
34
Mathis, Jay "Social Media Tips for Professional Athletes" INewswire, 
(Next Level Management Firm, 20 Mar 2010). http://www.i‐
newswire.com/social‐media‐tips‐for‐professional/27517. 
 
 
35
Kameka, Andrew "Chad Ochocinco launches OCNN, the first of many great 
MOTOBLUR‐inspired moments" (Androinica, 7 Apr 2010). 
http://androinica.com/2010/04/07/chad‐ochocinco‐launches‐ocnn‐the‐first‐
of‐many‐great‐motoblur‐moments/. 
 
36
Zucker, Sara "Nestlé Crunch Revamps Recipe With Social Media And 
Olympic Athletes" (Brand Channel, 6 Jan 2010). 
http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2010/01/06/Nestle‐Crunch‐
Revamps‐Recipe‐With‐Social‐Media‐And‐Olympic‐Athletes.aspx. 
 
37
 "The NFL's Code of Conduct" (PostGazette 21 Apr 2010). http://www.post‐
gazette.com/pg/10111/1052222‐66.stm. 
 
38
Cheng, Jacqui "Tweeting from the field: Sports meet social media," (Ars 
Technica, 26 Oct 2009). http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/10/sports‐
leagues‐largely‐striking‐out‐with‐social‐media.ars. 
 
39
Cheng, 1. 
 
40
Cheng, 2. 
 
41
Cheng, 2.

32
Chapter 6: Sports Figures in Today’s Society 
“The difference between the old ballplayer and the new ballplayer is the 
jersey. The old ballplayer cared about the name on the front. The new 
ballplayer cares about the name on the back.” (Steve Garvey) 
 
Olympic diver Greg Louganis tells the story of a 10‐year‐old he 
encountered smoking a cigarette. Surprised, he asked the youngster, “Why do 
you smoke?” “Because you do,” the boy replied. That was the day Louganis 
quit
42
.
For generations of Americans and many other cultures worldwide, there 
has been a non‐stop message that sports stars are as close to superhuman as one 
can be, and everyone should aspire to be like them. Gatorade commercials told 
us to “Be Like Mike,” Wayne Gretzky was referred to as “The Great One,” 
Muhammad Ali told us to “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” and Lance 
Armstrong inspired the world to “Livestrong”
43
. But now with so many athletes 
making mistakes and morally wrong decisions, glorifying sports figures as role 
models has never seemed more suspect. Mention of having the eye of the tiger 
generates snickers about Tiger Woods’ adultery scandal. Mark McGwire’s 
confession that he took steroids has shrunk the awe once held for hitting 
homeruns and breaking baseball records. Michael Vick’s dog fighting crimes 
sickened a nation that suddenly was confronted with the gruesome aspects of an 
underground fighting world.
 

33
Female athletes have been hurt, such as Marion Jones admitting to using 
steroids and being stripped of her Olympic medals. Yet even though all of these 
athletes committed wrongdoings, it is important to note just how much of an 
influence the media had on their images. All of the previously mentioned athletes 
had larger‐than‐life reputations in the media. The wrongs these athletes 
committed were scandals that shocked the world because the media had built up 
a certain image for them; an image of a superstar. Lesser‐ known professional 
athletes commit illegal crimes everyday, and these go generally unnoticed by the 
public. For example, in June 2009 Donte Stallworth, a wide receiver for the 
Cleveland Browns, pleaded guilty to DUI Manslaughter. He was driving under the 
influence, then hit and killed a pedestrian in Florida late at night
44
. This story 
wasn’t even top news in any of the newspapers or breaking news on any news 
broadcasts. It did not cause the uproar that the Tiger Woods case did with the 
general public, even though Stallworth committed a crime. This shows that the 
greater media‐constructed image an athlete has, the greater the impact is when 
he/she messes up. But what many of these athletes fail to realize, or often times 
forget, is that professional players become role models, especially for children, 
just because of their role as an “athlete.” As Jeffery Standen, author of the novel 
Taking Sports Seriously and the blog The Sports Law Professor notes, “Athletes 
display athletic virtues, diligence, perseverance, know the value of training, fair 
play and excellence. They’re ‘superhuman’ powers are what we individually 
strive to be
45
”. Charles Barkley made the statement, “I am not a role model
46
.”
 

34
But athletes have always and will probably continue to be admired. Regardless 
of how athletes perceive themselves, the public will always view them 
differently. Because they are constantly in the public eye and performing for the 
public, athletes have a responsibility to the public. Whether they like it or not, 
athletes are revered for their strength and power on and off the field. Just take 
Michael Jordan for example. At the height of his career, everyone wanted to “Be 
Like Mike.” Kids bought his Air Jordan’s, his jersey and whatever else they could 
find to dress like Mike. But many sports stars share Barkley’s position: they do 
not want to invest in cultivating an image of humaneness and high‐mindedness. 
They want to be recognized only for their performance in the playing arena
47
. 
This is how many athletes find themselves in trouble, because they are unable to 
accept the fact that they are always in the public eye. In this day and age, it is 
nearly impossible to keep anything secret or hidden from the media. The real 
truth eventually comes to surface. Superstars need to take responsibility for 
their position in society and start making smarter choices and decisions that 
reflect this position positively. It is no longer possible to hide from the media 
with so many amateur reporters and advanced technology to catch one’s every 
move.
However, these titles of ‘role model’ and ‘hero’ are not limited to athletes 
who play high revenue‐generating sports. Olympic athletes are also extremely 
influential in society and also produce many adored and famed superstars. 
Michael Phelps, Shaun White, Marion Jones and Tonya Harding have all been
 

35
involved in scandals. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was banned from 
competing for three months and dropped from his Kellogg’s endorsement deal 
after a picture of him smoking marijuana was leaked to the media in 2009
48
. 
Olympic snowboarder Shaun White shocked audiences when he exchanged a 
series of vulgar expletives with his coach before making his run in the 2010 
Winter Games
49
. Olympic track and field athlete Marion Jones made headlines 
when she admitted to using steroids and was stripped of her gold medals after 
the 2004 Summer Games.
50
 Finally, Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding was 
banned from her sport for life after conspiring with a hit man to attack her 
competitor, Nancy Kerrigan, before the 1994 Winter Games
51
. Looking back 
through history, there has been some type of athlete‐involved scandal in just 
about every professional sport.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

36
Chapter 6 Endnotes 

42
"A Good Example: Sports Figures as Role Models" Center for Media 
Literacy, 2010. http://www.medialit.org/reading‐room/good‐example‐sports‐
figures‐role‐models. 
 
43
Weir, Tom, "Fans still love their sports, but think twice about hero 
worship" USA Today, 26 Feb 2010. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2010‐02‐
25‐heroes‐cover_N.htm. 
 
44
 "Stallworth charged in man's death," ESPN, 2 Apr 2009. 
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4033632. 
 
45
Standen, Jeffrey "Athletes as Role Models," The Sports Law Professor, 
Blogger, 29 Jul 2007. 
http://thesportslawprofessor.blogspot.com/2007/07/athletes‐as‐role‐
models.html. 
 
46
"I'm Not A Role Model," Newsweek, 28 Jun 1993. 
http://www.newsweek.com/1993/06/27/i‐m‐not‐a‐role‐model.html. 
 
47
Teitelbaum 3. 
 
48
Graham, Nick. "Michael Phelps Bong Picture: Olympic Champion Caught 
Smoking Marijuana," Huffington Post, 31 Jan 2009. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nick‐graham/michael‐phelps‐bong‐
pictu_b_162842.html. 
 
49
Krech, Rachel "Olympics Viewers Get Earful of Swearing from Shaun 
White Coach Before Gold Medal Run," Associated Content, 18 Feb 2010. 
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2714441/olympics_viewers_get_ear
ful_of_swearing.html. 
 
50
Shipley, Amy "Marion Jones Admits to Steroid Use" Washington Post, 5 
Oct 2007. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp‐
dyn/content/article/2007/10/04/AR2007100401666.html. 
 
51
"Tonya Harding On Her Hard Life," CBS News, 24 Jun 2008. 
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/24/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/
main4205128.shtml. 

37
Chapter 7: Literature Review 
“This is what great athletes do; they give us a model of striving for human 
perfection.” (Armstrong Williams) 
 The author reviewed an array of journal, magazine and newspaper 
articles, books, press conferences and radio interviews to aid in creating a 
template for sports PR practitioners to follow.
 
When Winning Costs Too Much: John McCloskey and Julian Bailes
52
 
McCloskey and Bailes dedicate an entire chapter in their novel to the idea 
that children need better mentors and heroes. The chapter begins with Barkley’s 
infamous “I am not a role model” statement as an attempt to awaken a nation 
filled with parents who failed to be role models for their children. Both agree 
that we are in a worse situation today thanks to many parents who increasingly 
rely on television, video games, someone or something else to babysit their 
children. This chapter lists the biggest problems facing today’s youth and relates 
them to the world of sports. McCloskey and Bailes note that professional athletes 
are role models who have the tremendous capability to positively affect children 
and teenagers. They can begin to set a better example now by cleaning up their 
respective sports and placing a priority on being a good citizen. Too often, kids 
today recognize elite athletes more because of their tattoos and temper 
tantrums than their character and abilities. Many of the trends and values 
adopted by young people today such as alcoholism, violence and drug use are
 

38
coming from the manufactured figures they know only through television. But 
these star athletes have and always will have “unbelievable” lives, ones that 
children covet. The actions of professional athletes can influence future stars as 
well as kids who play sports just for fun. The chapter concludes by saying that 
parents need to be cautious and monitor who their children’s role models are, 
taking a more active role in their child’s life. The chapter also emphasizes the 
need for parents to spend more time with their own children.
 
Tiger – The Last Installment 650.4: Michael Josephson
53
 
Michael Josephson has made a career with analyzing celebrity character 
in the media. He has a blog that examines current issues and relates it to one’s 
character. In this entry, he discusses the Tiger Woods issue and how he must 
now get on the “shame on you” bandwagon. He recognizes that many people feel 
we should ignore or minimize Woods’ extramarital escapades because he’s only 
human and because people make mistakes, but Josephson can’t agree. Josephson 
points out that as a human, one knows the difference between right and wrong, 
and Woods knew what he was doing was wrong. Josephson also notes that 
Woods’ actions were not a mistake, because his infidelities were premeditated 
and done in reckless disregard for the harm they would cause his family. 
Josephson also explains, 
The indecency of his infidelity wasn’t about sex. Tiger’s squeaky‐clean 
image gave him Zeus‐like status on the sparsely populated Mt. Olympus of 
sports role models, which enabled him to make millions of extra dollars. 
Sadly, it was a fraud, and many of us feel cheated. 
 

39
Josephson concludes the post by arguing that “Character Counts,” which is his 
motto in all of his works.
 
Should Athletes be Role Models?: Keith Boykin
54
 
Keith Boykin states in his blog article that every time there’s a controversy 
in professional sports, critics complain that athletes are sending the wrong 
signals to today’s youth. He cites examples including Pittsburgh Steelers player 
Joey Porter, Cleveland Browns player Kellen Winslow and Terrell Owens. He 
raises a few questions such as, who took the “professional” out of professional 
sports, and should we even bother to hold athletes as role models anymore? 
Boykin recognizes that these are not the first professional athletes embroiled in 
controversy. He states that maybe the good, decent players today get overlooked 
in the media because they’re too busy being good, and that’s not an interesting 
story to the press. And, maybe we need to remind our kids today that they don’t 
have to pick up a ball to be a hero, but there’s nothing wrong with them picking 
up a ball if they want to.
 
The Professional Athlete’s Right of Publicity: Laura Stapelton
55
 
Published in the Marquette Sports Law Journal, the basis of this work is 
the professional athlete’s right to privacy. Stapelton notes that the celebrity in 
the public eye has two concerns that go beyond his or her creative efforts. First, 
to guard against intrusions to what exists of a private life and second, to protect
 

40
the value of the one’s name, image and other attributes surrounding the “brand.” 
For many professional athletes, the amount of money they can make from 
licensing the use of their name or image is astronomical. In fact, Tiger Woods 
makes much more from endorsements than from actually playing golf. In 2008, 
he earned $128 million on endorsements alone. By contrast, since turning pro in 
1996 Tiger has only earned $92.8 million from 239 career PGA starts. His 
current net worth, before he lost most of his endorsements, was at $500 million, 
most of which came from endorsement deals.
 
The value of an athlete’s name and image has become so significant that 
he will go to great lengths to protect it. Stapelton discusses the difference 
between the right to privacy and the right to publicity and lists athletes who 
have sued for violation of their right of publicity. Traditional privacy rights 
protect “the dignitary, reputational, emotional and physical rights of persons. 
Privacy rights do not survive death of the individual. Courts that view the right of 
publicity as a subset of the right of privacy will not grant a postmortem right of 
publicity, while courts that view the rights more akin to each other will 
recognize a postmortem right. Many famous cases involving athletes and 
misappropriation, or supposed misappropriation, of their image are discussed in 
great detail and the outcomes of these cases are shared. For example, ETW 
Corporation was created to control the marketing of Tiger Woods’ image. Since 
1997, ETW has sued six companies that it alleges have interfered with Woods’s
 

41
right of publicity. On April 15, 1998, Tiger Woods received a “substantial 
monetary settlement” and a permanent injunction barring the Franklin Mint’s 
use of his likeness. This settlement was achieved due to the efforts of ETW, 
which filed suit against the Franklin Mint for using Woods’ image on one of its 
commemorative coins.

The Herd with Colin Cowherd: Personal Conduct
56

In an ESPN radio broadcast, Colin Cowherd discusses a memo Roger 
Goodell sent in April 2010 to all NFL teams that stated they needed to “clean up 
their act” because ‘”we are becoming a disaster.” Goodell also created a detailed 
personal conduct policy, in light of all the events that had happened up until this 
point, especially with the Ben Roethlisberger scandal. Goodell is the first 
commissioner to create such a regulation. Cowherd compared the NFL to the 
NBA and noted that in this country, the NBA gets more criticism than it deserves 
because the players “flaunt it: that they’re rich, young and black.” He feels that 
the public assumes that they can relate more to the NFL players of the past, but 
with the current players getting huge contracts, fans no longer believe players 
are just like us. According to Cowherd, the NFL is now replacing the NBA as the 
“thug” league. When a crime occurs within the NFL and the charges are dropped, 
fans don’t want to hear about it, but when the same things happen in the NBA, 
we demand to hear about it. It is horrendous how many charges are dropped 
within the NFL, especially for the Pittsburgh Steelers alone. However, the Lakers 

42
had one serious charge in the past seven years, involving the alleged rape case 
by Kobe Bryant, and people just won’t let it go. Cowherd sums up his broadcast 
and points out that this is what happens when a young athlete is guaranteed 
large sums of money and isn’t able to handle it smartly; they end up going 
sideways.
 
NPR with Toure: In the Era of Sports Scandal, Pity the Fan 
57
 
The radio segment begins with reporters Toure and Alison Stewart 
lamenting that this is a hard time to be a sports fan. These days it’s hard to find 
the sports on the sports page amidst the stories about steroids, lawsuits, 
convictions, and football fans demanding women show their breasts at games. 
The commentators interview Will Leitch, author of “God Save the Fan,” a novel 
about preening sportscasters, athletes who speak in the third person, and the 
occasional convicted quarterback. They note that the fan is getting short changed 
by the amount of off‐field news they are exposed to: trials, steroids and 
misconduct. There were whole weeks this winter when the New York Times’ 
front page of the sports section was never about a game, but about the Mitchell 
Report, Clemens’ response, Isaiah’s trial, the Jets fans hollering at women and 
Michael Vick. Leitch uses Jason Giambi as an example and states,
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

43
Jason Giambi is a paid entertainer. That's what we pay him to do. We don't 
pay him to be a moral arbiter. We don't pay him to make some statement 
on our lives. His job is to hit a baseball out of a baseball park. That's the 
only reason any of us care about Jason Giambi or any of us have idea who 
he is. So I think, expecting him to be some sort of statesman and some sort 
of role model ‐ I take a strong stance against this. We understand that, yes, 
we'd rather he not be doing steroids. We'd love to have this theoretical 
planet where everyone is clean and none of the stuff goes on. 
 
Leitch discusses the fact that these professional athletes have been coddled since 
they were children, told they were different and that they would be able to get 
away with things. But isn't it amazing that you can catch a DUI, you can beat up 
your wife, you can do steroids ‐ all the in the same week ‐ and the fans will still 
embrace you. He states that his novel is about how so much of the world of 
sports teams is based on not being a distraction to the team.
 
The Two Way Street, Star Athletes and their Private Lives: Stephen Cantanese
58
 
Stephen Cantanese’s article in the SB Nation in Pittsburgh is about star 
athletes and their private lives. Cantanese believes that the public deserves to 
see star athletes as they really are, and not just as they present themselves to the 
media. He opens the article with questions about how we are trying to 
understand ourselves as human beings throughout our lives. We constantly ask 
ourselves, what can I achieve? What qualities do I possess? What do others think 
of me? Who am I? The article then discusses a Nike commercial that was the very 
first about Tiger Woods. Its message was that “You are Tiger Woods.” Not just 
you, but your children are Tiger Woods as well. Tiger Woods the competitor, the
 

44
champion. Cantanese notes that we met, and fell in love with, a vague but shiny 
image of Tiger. We learned to love Tiger Woods, the exceptional human being, 
the family man of utmost virtue, who loved his wife and children dearly when he 
wasn’t busy doing charity work. Cantanese goes on to say that we really met an 
idealization of Tiger. This idealization was sold to us on a nightly basis so that we 
thought we knew how great and noble Tiger was at sports and at life. This media 
technique was created not just for Tiger, but for Brett Favre, Kobe Bryant, David 
Beckham and Ben Roethlisberger as well. He notes that the media makes these 
men out to be our role models. They are sculpted to appeal to those primal 
emotions we bring to sports as fans and as people. We don’t want to root for the 
egotistical womanizer or the guy with anger‐management problems. We want to 
root for the good guy, the family man. Cantanese states, 
In light of recent events, every detail of Tiger Woods' personal life is fair 
game; the relevance of the material can be left for the reader to decide. 
Important people in positions of trust sold us an incredibly inaccurate 
portrayal of Woods. It is only fair to counter the misrepresentations with 
new facts as they emerge. If Tiger didn't want his personal life to become 
public, he and his handlers should have done a better job keeping it private. 
 
Cantanese claimed that we, as an audience and journalists, should aim not for 
character assassination, but for character accuracy.
 
NBC Sports with Ethan Skolncik: In modern sports coverage, it’s all fair game
59
 
Ethan Skolnick points out that one would think that sports provide enough 
excitement on the field or court or ice to satiate even the most demanding
 

45
consumer. But he notes that the “playing part gets boring for people, and they 
want to know what is going on in an athlete’s personal life.” In this modern 
media age with its increasing saturation and declining standards, you can check 
independent sports blogs to find a backside bikini shot of a tennis star, 
quarterbacks funneling beer, pictures of athlete’s homes and the latest gossip 
related to any high‐profile athlete. Even sportscasters aren’t exempt from 
scrutiny. Skolnick says, “I don’t think anybody’s lives are private or personal 
anymore. Once you step into the public street, everything is wide open.” The 
article showcases the scandal with Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and 
the published photo of him walking into a Toronto gentleman’s club with a 
mysterious blonde, who was not his wife. It was no longer a surprise when 
Rodriguez’s marriage became a major media spectacle and he went on to date 
the pop star Madonna. He notes that in the eras of Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth, 
sports reporters ignored what they saw or heard about a player’s personal life, 
because jobs in journalism were scarce and they didn’t want to risk losing their 
jobs or ruining their relationships with these athletes. This is no longer true 
today. He states “The leagues and teams still sell their product and their players, 
even in colleges, almost as paragons of virtue,” but you can’t have it both ways. 
Personal issues can affect something dear for athletes. It can affect their earning 
potential.
My main objective for this thesis was to focus solely on professional 
athletes who had media intrusion into their personal lives. The case studies were 
chosen specifically to represent this.

46
The athletes did not do anything illegal per se and the respective scandals did 
not involve anything unlawful; rather the athletes in question were involved in 
forms of immoral activity.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

47
Chapter 7 Endnotes

52
McCloskey, John, and Julian Bailes, When Winning Costs Too Much: 
Steroids, Supplements, and Scandal in Today's Sports World, (Taylor Trade 
Publishing, 2005). 
 
53
Josephson, Michael "Tiger – The Last Installment 650.4," Commentary by 
Michael Josephson, (Josephson Institute, 18 Jan 2010). 
http://charactercounts.org/michael/2009/12/tiger_the_last_installment_650.ht
ml. 
 
54
Boykin, Keith "Should Athletes Be Role Models?" Keith Boykin, 19 Dec 
2006. http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/2006/12/19/should_athletes. 
 
55
Stapleton, Laura, and Matt McMurphy, "The Professional Athlete's Right 
of Publicity" Jackson Walker L.L.P (2001). 
http://images.jw.com/com/publications/131.pdf. 
 
56
"Personal Conduct" The Herd with Colin Cowherd, ESPN Radio: 16 Apr 
2010, Radio. 
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?callsign=ESPNRADIO
&id=5099907&autoplay=1. 
 
57
"In the Era of Sports Scandal, Pity the Fan" Sport News, NPR: 24 Jan 2008, 
Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18367954. 
 
58
Catanese, Stephen "The Two‐Way Street: Star Athletes And Their Private 
Lives" Pittsburgh Sports and News, (SB Nation, 19 Aug 2010). 
http://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/2010/8/19/1618151/privacy‐vs‐publicity‐
tiger‐woods‐ben‐roethlisberger‐sidney‐crosby. 
 
59
Skolnick, Ethan "In modern sports coverage, it's all fair game" NBC Sports, 
NBC, 4 Aug 2008. http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/25998182/. 

48
Chapter 8: Method 
What is the perception of Professional Athletes as Heroes? 
“Athletes know kids look up to them, and it’s important for athletes to be 
responsible.” (Deion Sanders) 
My primary research involved surveying different groups of individuals to 
understand their views of professional athletes, their views of the athletes 
studied in this thesis and their choice of role models. I surveyed a vast array of 
ages and genders in order to compare the responses and note any differences. 
 
Adult Public: (Males and Females aged 18 and up) 
I created an online survey and polled 35 adults in the United States to get 
their perceptions of professional athletes and specifically, ones studied in my 
cases. Questions included: 
‐Who are your role models or heroes and why? 
‐When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up? 
‐On a scale of 1‐10, how important are sports to our society? 
‐What are your views of the following athletes: Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant 
and Tiger Woods? 
‐Do you feel sports stars are entitled to privacy for their personal lives? 
‐Do you use social media? Which outlets and how often? 
 
 
 

49
Child Public: (Male and Female 9
th
 grade students) 
I visited a classroom in West Hills, CA and polled 33 students to get their 
perceptions of professional athletes and specifically, the ones studied in my 
cases. I chose 10
th
 graders (ages 15‐17), because at this age, young people start 
to realize the difference between admiring a role model just because they are 
famous, and admiring a role model for their true character. Questions included: 
‐Who do you look up to and why? Who is your hero? 
‐When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up? 
‐What is your favorite after‐school activity? Do you play any sports? 
‐What do you think of Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods?
‐Who is your favorite athlete? What is our favorite team? 
‐Do you use Facebook, Myspace or Twitter? How often? 
 
PR Students (Males and Females in the USC program) 
I distributed an online survey to 47 strategic PR students to get their 
perceptions of professional athletes and specifically, the ones studied in my 
cases. Questions included: 
‐Why do you think sports are important to society? 
‐What are your views of the following athletes: Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant 
and Tiger Woods? 
‐On a scale of 1‐10, how important is a crisis management program for 
sports stars? 
 

50
‐What do you think were the biggest mistakes made in the Magic Johnson, 
Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods cases? 
‐Do you feel sports stars are entitled to privacy and to what degree? 
‐Do you use social media? Which outlets and how often? 
 
PR Professionals (Males and Females in the Sports Industry) 
The author interviewed four PR professionals that work in the sports 
industry to get their perceptions of professional athletes and specifically, the 
ones studied in my cases. Questions included: 
‐Why do you think sports are important to our society? 
‐How do you feel about sports stars being heroes or role models? 
‐What do you think were the biggest mistakes made in the Magic Johnson, 
Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods cases? 
‐What would be your first steps when handling a crisis for a sports star? 
‐What would be your one piece of advice for Tiger Woods? 
‐Do you use social media? Which outlets and for what purposes? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

51
Chapter 9: Results 
This thesis examines three sports heroes who made mistakes in their 
private lives and whose PR teams made mistakes as well. Before I discuss the 
cases, I wanted to sample opinions among a cross section of the American public 
to understand their views of the cases and the sports heroes involved.
 
Table 1: Respondent Demographics 
Demographic of Survey Respondents 
Male Female Age 15‐17 Age 18‐20 Age 21‐30 Age 50+ 
49% 51% 29% 3% 61% 7% 
*Based on all reports. Total of 115 responses 
The gender demographics of my study group were fairly evenly 
distributed. Most of my respondents were in the 21‐30‐age range. My smallest 
percentage of respondents was in the 18‐20‐age range. A few responses come 
from the 50+age category, which I felt could be useful from a historical 
perspective. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

52
Figure 1: Career Aspirations at Youth 
 
*Based on all reports. Total of 85 responses 
The author determined what respondents wanted to be when they grew 
up, to prove just how much of an impact sports stars have on a child’s life. As 
shown in Figure 1, the majority of the results were an athlete, celebrity or some 
type of professional career (such as a doctor or lawyer).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

53
Figure 2: Current Role Models 
 
*Based on all reports. Total of 92 responses 
To demonstrate the impact that sports stars have on the public, the author 
asked respondents whom they looked up to today as their role models. 29% of 
all respondents put current or past athletes as role models that they look up to 
for various reasons. This statistic shows how important athletes are to society 
and that they really do have the responsibility of being role models to the public. 
The highest category, at 50%, was family or parents.
 
 
 
 
 
 

54
Figure 3: Are Athletes Entitled to Privacy?
 
*Based on US public and PR student reports only. Total of 82 responses 
It was interesting to see that most people believe that athletes are entitled 
to privacy. I did expect more people to respond the opposite way. As stated in a 
previous section, there are privacy disclosure laws that do not give athletes and 
celebrities the same types of freedoms that the general public have. Despite what 
the respondents believed, athletes are constantly in the public eye with limited 
privacy and subjected to constant scrutiny from the media. 

55
Figure 4: Total Views of the Studied Athletes 
*Graph does not include PR professional responses. Total of 115 responses 
The purpose of asking the respondents’ views about the three athletes was 
to gauge whether or not the media had an effect on their perceptions. As of this 
writing, Tiger Woods is discussed constantly in the media for cheating on his 
wife. Kobe Bryant committed the same immoral act against his wife, yet 
respondents had a much more positive view of Bryant in comparison to Woods. I 
expected Woods to have a very high negative viewing, because his scandal 
occurred more recently. It seemed as if respondents had time to get over the 
shock of Bryant’s actions, and have a more positive view of him. It was 
interesting to find that many of the younger respondents, ages 15‐17, did not 
mention the scandals of the athletes affecting their views. Many of the 
respondents stated that the media was to blame for intruding on the athlete’s 
privacy, and that is the cause for their poor reputations.

56
In comparison to the older respondents, the younger age group seemed to 
disregard the immoral acts that both Bryant and Woods committed, and still felt 
positively about them as athletes. Many of the younger respondents I polled also 
had a neutral view of Magic Johnson. Overall, the results were as expected, with 
Woods having the most negative views because his scandal is the most recent 
and still being discussed in the media; Bryant having a mix with mostly positive 
views because his PR team did a great job rebuilding his image and his success 
as a basketball player has grown tremendously; and Johnson having the greatest 
amount of positive viewers because his case is usually viewed with the most 
sympathy because of his life‐threatening disease.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

57
Table 2: Social Media Usage
Respondents Social Media Usage 
Use Social 
Media 
No Social 
Media 
Use Facebook Use Twitter Use Blogs Use Other 
93% 7% 87% 5% 5% 9% 
*Based on all reports. Total of 115 responses 
It was not surprising that almost all respondents use social media. For 
those that said they did not use social media, I would assume they were from the 
50+‐age category, and have not joined the social media phenomenon. This is 
because most individuals from the Baby Boomer generation did not grow up 
around social media, and have not become accustomed to using it on a daily 
basis. Although the Baby Boomer generation is the fastest growing segment on 
Facebook, the ‘Over 50’ age category has actually been reported as the group 
that uses Facebook less often than the younger groups
60
. I also did not find it 
surprising that of the people who used social media, Facebook was ranked as 
used the most. Followed by MySpace, Linkedin and video game virtual 
communities.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

58
Figure 5: Importance of Sports and Social Media to Society (Scale of 1‐10) 
 
*Based on US public and PR student reports only. Total of 82 responses 
Respondents were asked to rate the importance of sports and social media 
on a scale of 1‐10, in two separate questions. Most of the respondents rated 
sports at a ‘7’ for importance.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

59
Chapter 9 Endnotes 

60
Smith, Justin "Why Are Baby Boomers Coming Back to Facebook Less?" 
Inside Facebook, (Inside Network, 1 June 2009). 
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/06/01/why‐are‐baby‐boomers‐coming‐
back‐to‐facebook‐less/.

60
Chapter 10: Case Studies 
There is no shortage of crises and controversies surrounding professional 
athletes in the sports world. From sex scandals to drunken altercations, it seems 
that a new athlete is in the media everyday for some form of misconduct. Rather 
than sports news about games and player stats, the sports pages of magazines 
and newspapers are now flooded with scandals of famous superstar athletes. 
The most recent big‐time examples of scandals involve Shawne Merriman, 
Michael Vick and Alex Rodriguez, who have all had their share of disgrace.
In October 2006, Shawne Merriman faced a 4‐game suspension for 
violating the NFL’s steroid policy. He claimed the substance was a tainted 
nutritional supplement he took regularly, but many skeptics and sources 
disagree. In September 2009, Merriman was arrested and charged with battery 
and false imprisonment. An acquaintance, reality TV star Tila Tequila, claimed 
that he choked and restrained her when she tried to leave his home. The charges 
were dismissed less than a week later. Despite all of this, in August 2010, after 
two weeks of hold out, Merriman signed tender with the San Diego Chargers and 
continues to play linebacker for the NFL
61
. 
In April 2007, Michael Vick was involved in an illegal interstate dog‐
fighting ring that had operated over a period of five years. In August of that year, 
he pleaded guilty to federal felony charges and served 21 months in prison, 
followed by two months of home confinement. With the loss of his NFL salary 
and product endorsement deals, combined with previous financial debts,
 

61
Vick filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2008. Vick most recently signed with 
the Philadelphia Eagles and was reinstated in the 2009 season
62
.
In February 2009, after previously denying the use of performance‐
enhancing drugs, Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids. He admitted he 
used them from 2001 to 2003 when he played for the Texas Rangers, due to 
what he called an “enormous amount of pressure” to perform. The 2003 test 
results were supposed to remain anonymous and the samples destroyed. 
However, a coded list was seized during a 2004 BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co‐
Operative) investigation, and among the names on this list was Alex Rodriguez. 
Rodriguez said he was never told he was among the players who tested positive; 
he only knew from a tip that came in 2004, saying he may or may not have failed 
his 2003 test. Once the information was revealed in 2009, Rodriguez held a 
national press conference to discuss the issue. He continues to play third base 
for the New York Yankees while breaking the record of highest paid player in 
baseball history
63
.
Most of the athletes involved in scandals such as these have been able to 
overcome them and continue playing their respective sports. Some however, 
have not been as lucky. Three high‐profile professional athlete scandals that 
have received huge media attention and invasion into their personal lives, are 
still leaving us with questions about making a successful recovery back into the 
sports world. They are: Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods. 
 
 

62
Magic Johnson 
“I tell you, it’s funny because the only time I think about HIV is when I have 
to take my medicine twice a day.” (Magic Johnson) 
On November 7, 1991, Magic Johnson, who played point guard for the Los 
Angeles Lakers, made the most shocking announcement of a career that had 
been big news from the moment he first grabbed the nation’s attention as a 19‐
year‐old college basketball star
64
. The then 32‐year‐old, told reporters in a press 
conference that he had been tested positive for HIV, and would be retiring from 
pro basketball immediately
65
. The conference was held in Inglewood, California 
with Johnson’s doctor present, the league commissioner David Stern, Lakers 
head coach Jerry West, his wife, Cookie and various Lakers teammates
66
. 
Johnson’s announcement showed the public that AIDS was not just a white 
person’s disease or a gay disease, as were previous misconceptions at the time
67
. 
Many jaded reporters at the press conference were crying, although the overall 
tone was a very positive one. Johnson made clear that he did not have AIDS, but 
rather the HIV virus and he would now become an HIV spokesperson. The media 
later praised Johnson for his courage and President George HW Bush called him 
a ‘hero’
68
. Initially, Johnson said he did not know how he contracted the disease, 
but he later admitted that it was through having multiple sexual partners during 
his playing career. It is important to note that this fact did not have an overall 
impact on Johnson’s image or reputation at the time. He was perceived with 
great sympathy and respect from the general public. Johnson is still the 
spokesperson for HIV and AIDS
69
.

63
He is an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as a 
philanthropist and motivational speaker. He made a huge impact on the world 
and specifically on the city of Los Angeles for his athletic, inspirational and 
business management talents. Because it has been close to 20 years since 
Johnson made this announcement, there has been much speculation regarding 
his true contraction of the disease. Recently, a radio newscaster said on air that 
Johnson “faked AIDS for sympathy”
70
. The station later apologized to Johnson 
who stated once again, that he truly does have the HIV virus.  
 
Kobe Bryant 
“You know, I’m a human being. I’m a man, just like everybody else. I mourn. 
I cry, jut like everybody else.” (Kobe Bryant) 
In the summer of 2003, in Eagle, Colorado police arrested Kobe Bryant in 
connection with a complaint filed by 19‐year‐old hotel employee Katelyn Faber. 
Faber accused Bryant of raping her. It had all the elements of an American 
scandal: money, celebrity, sex and race
71
. Bryant and Faber were set to appear in 
court later that summer in August, but things never made it that far. Prosecutors 
dropped the case after Faber refused to testify, but she then filed a civil suit that 
was settled outside of court. There is no public evidence of the settlement, but 
experts agree that it was some type of financial arrangement for keeping things 
quiet. The alleged event occurred on July 1, 2003; Bryant held a public press 
conference on July 18, 2003, where at the time, Bryant admitted to having 
consensual sex with Faber and publicly apologized to his fans.

64
He declared his innocence of rape charges, but did admit to committing adultery; 
continuously emphasizing it was “consensual.” Bryant appeared at the press 
conference with his wife and public relations spokesperson
72
, who began the 
conference and spelled out the facts of the case: that Bryant was innocent, he 
was falsely accused and that they intended to try the case without the presence 
of the media. Bryant then spoke and apologized to his wife and family for 
committing adultery and repeatedly said “I’m innocent.” He walked into the 
conference and left the conference holding hands with his wife. It was not lost on 
reporters that Bryant surprised her with a $4 million eight‐carat purple diamond 
ring three days after the rape charge was revealed
73
. Shortly after his admission, 
Bryant lost endorsement deals with Nutella and McDonalds, but kept his Nike 
and Sprite deals
74
. The scandal is said to have cost Bryant between $4 million to 
$6 million lost in endorsement contracts. At the time, the Bryant sexual assault 
case ranked among the most publicized scandals in sports, perhaps exceeded 
only by the O.J. Simpson murder trial. In 2009, Bryant won the NBA’s MVP award 
and wasn’t booed off stage. Bryant still hears the occasional taunt from visiting 
fans, who have been known to shout out the room number where the sexual 
encounter took place. Still, he’s largely emerged from the butt of jokes to a 
revered sports star, one of the two best players in the NBA along with Lebron 
James
75
.
 
 
 

65
Tiger Woods 
“I don’t get to live by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to 
everyone else apply to me.” (Tiger Woods) 
On November 7, 2009, Tiger Woods crashed his car outside his Florida 
home in the early hours of the morning. Woods claimed he ran his Escalade over 
a fire hydrant and into a tree, and his wife pulled him from his vehicle by 
smashing the back window with a golf club. He suffered numerous injuries to the 
face and went to the hospital the next day
76
. Over the next three days, when the 
police tried to visit Woods at his home, they were turned away every time. 
Suspicions arose and the Tiger Woods scandal erupted. Rumors about infidelity 
suddenly began to surface. Many women came forward saying they had had an 
affair with Tiger. With more than one alleged mistress in the spotlight, gossip 
and celebrity magazines and Web sites fielded a flood of news tips daily from 
women desperate to be apart of the media maelstrom
77
. This media storm 
continued for three months, with countless women coming forward for their 
fifteen minutes of fame
78
. Finally in February 2010, Woods held a press 
conference, at which he allowed one camera, media of his choosing and only 
attendees close to him
79
. The conference lasted for about fourteen minutes, 
where Woods recited a scripted apology and said he was “deeply sorry for his 
selfish behavior.” The transcript reveled that Woods said 1,520 words to the 
media and said ‘sorry’ a total of three times
80
.
 
 

66
Woods emphasized that this was a private matter and he was going to seek help 
for his actions; which he did at private, sex addiction, inpatient therapy for the 
next few months. Tiger returned to golf for the Masters in April with much 
criticism for his unchanged manner. As of this writing, Woods has yet to make a 
comeback in the golf world. Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for 
Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida said, “I don’t 
know if there was anybody ever like Tiger Woods. We had an African‐American 
athlete who totally transcended race and dominated a sport, maybe like no one 
else, and seemed to have this perfect life. It turned out not to be true”
81
. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

67
Chapter 10 Endnotes 

61
MJD, "The rise and fall of Shawne Merriman," NFL (Yahoo Sports, 13 Oct 
2010). http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/The‐rise‐and‐
fall‐of‐Shawne‐Merriman?urn=nfl‐276809. 
 
62
"Falcons try to cope with Vick scandal," Sports, (NBC Sports, 21 Aug 
2007). http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/20365137/. 
 
63
Roberts, Selena, and David Epstein "Sources tell SI Alex Rodriguez tested 
positive for steroids in 2003" (Sports Illustrated, 7 Feb 2009). 
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/02/07/alex‐rodriguez‐
steroids/. 
 
64
Slater, Matt "The Magic show rolls on," BBC Sport Online (2001) 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/us_sport/1643161.stm. 
 
65
Slater, 1. 
 
66
Johnson, Earvin "Magic". Press Conference Announcing HIV Infection and 
Retirement. Transcript. Inglewood, CA. 7 Nov 1991. Speech. 
www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/magicjohnsonhivretirement.htm. 
 
67
Slater, 1. 
 
68
"When Did Magic Johnson Get AIDS?" Athlete Biographies, Famous People 
Biography Guide, 2009 
http://www.famouspeoplebiographyguide.com/athlete/Magic‐johnson/When‐
Did‐Magic‐Johnson‐Get‐Aids.html. 
 
69
Weinberg, Rick "Magic Johnson announces he's HIV‐positive," 100 Most 
Memorable Moments of the Past 25 Years, ESPN, 2009 
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/espn25/story?page=moments/7. 
 
70
Associated, Press "Radio station 'regrets' Magic Johnson AIDS remarks, 
promises PSA" NBA News, ESPN, 10 Oct 2008 
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3636469. 
 
71
"The Color of Scandal" On The Media, NPR: 08 Aug 2003, Radio 
http://onthemedia.org/transcripts/2003/08/08/01. 
 
72
Bryant, Kobe "Kobe Claims Innocence to Sexual Assault Charges," 
YouTube, Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA. 18 Jul 2003, Speech, 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSamEqtPVao 
 

68

73
Hewitt, Bill. "He Said, She Said," People Magazine 4 Aug 2003: 
http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20140687,00.html. 
 
74
Holguin, Jamie "Kobe Bryant Settles Sex Suit," CBS News, 3 Mar 2005: 
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/02/national/main677677.shtml. 
 
75
Newberry, Paul "Tiger can learn plenty of lessons from Kobe Bryant" USA 
Today 3 Apr 2010: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/2010‐04‐03‐
2443987631_x.htm. 
 
76
Dahlberg, Tim "Tiger will never recover from scandal" NBC Sports 15 Dec 
2009: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/34438458/ns/sports‐golf/. 
 
77
Piazza, Jo. "Tiger Woods keeps tabloids busy," CNN 4 Dec 2009: 
http://articles.cnn.com/2009‐12‐
04/entertainment/tiger.woods.tabloids_1_jaimee‐grubbs‐rachel‐uchitel‐tiger‐
woods?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ. 
 
78
Goldman, Russell "At Least 9 Women Linked to Tiger Woods in Alleged 
Affairs" Entertainment News (ABC News, 7 Dec 2009). 
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/tiger‐woods‐women‐linked‐alleged‐
affairs/story?id=9270076. 
 
79
Woods, Tiger "Tiger Woods' Press Conference Apology," YouTube, Point 
Vedra Beach, Florida. 19 Feb 2010. Speech. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA7ty2LQwc0
 
80
Soller, Kurt "Exactly How Sorry Are You, Tiger?" Esquire Magazine 19 Feb 
2010: http://www.esquire.com/the‐side/feature/tiger‐woods‐apology‐021810. 
 
81
Dahlberg, 2.

69
Chapter 11: RACE Analysis 
Each athlete in the case studies will now be evaluated and analyzed 
according to the RACE plan. The RACE method is used by public relations 
professionals to assess how a situation is handled during a time of crisis and is 
comprised of four elements: Respond, Assess, Communicate and Evaluate. Each 
step plays an important role in the overall outcome of the crisis. The Respond 
element examines how the individual or company initially reacts to the crisis. 
The Assess element is how the individual or company evaluates the situation and 
draws conclusions about the impact. The Communicate element is how the 
individual or company responds to all stakeholders including the media or 
general public about the crisis. Finally, the Evaluate element is what the 
individual or company does in its next steps to handle the crisis and reflect on 
what they’ve accomplished up to a certain point. All of these elements come 
together to form an analysis of how the crisis was controlled, or not controlled, 
from a public relations perspective.
 
Magic Johnson 
The overall issue and scandal of the Magic Johnson case was that he was an 
amazing, talented professional basketball player who had already accomplished 
so much in his life and was about to retire from his profession because he had 
contracted the HIV virus. At the time, information about AIDS and the HIV virus 
was relatively new. People had misconceptions about the virus, how it was
 

70
contracted and how it could be spread. Johnson and his staff had to explain this 
situation to the public, without it having enormous negative results for his 
reputation. Following his October 1991 routine physical (for a new life insurance 
policy, because he had recently been married,) he was called into the doctor’s 
office where he was told that he tested positive for HIV
82
. Johnson and his staff 
now had to deal with this situation: 
Respond‐Johnson held a press conference on November 7, 1991, 
approximately one week after he learned the news about contracting the HIV 
virus
83
. Up until this point, reporters believed Johnson had the flu and was just 
sitting out for a couple of games. The conference was held in Inglewood, 
California and broadcast live on CNN. Johnson spoke candidly to reporters 
himself and explained the situation to the public. Johnson took personal 
questions from reporters, and the appropriate personnel answered all other 
medical or basketball‐related questions.
Assess‐The biggest challenge for Johnson was how he was going to 
continue on with his life and still have a strong reputation in the community. His 
announcement had a huge effect especially on the African‐American community. 
Johnson vowed to dedicate his life to education others about HIV/AIDS, which 
was a great tactic to try and ease the shock, while helping the public understand 
the situation. Many people thought Johnson would soon die, but he remained 
positive and addressed the issue as a mere setback, rather than a life‐threatening 
disease.
 

71
He was calm, upbeat and relaxed, something that many found surprising. He 
concluded the conference by saying, “I’m going to go on. I’m going to beat this, 
and I’m going to have fun,” which also helped to lessen the pain that many were 
feeling at this time.
Communicate‐During this time, Johnson was accessible to the media. He 
held the press conference right away to inform all of his stakeholders what was 
going on, rather than wait for the media to break the story. Johnson granted 
many interviews during this time and still talks about the issue today. He has 
appeared in LA Times Magazine
84
, Ebony Magazine
85
, CNN
86
 and countless other 
newspapers and television shows. He answered any questions the media had at 
the conference, on a personal, medical and athletic standpoint.
Evaluate‐From a public relations standpoint, the Johnson scandal was 
handled very well. Johnson’s staff formulated a plan the moment they found out 
he had the HIV virus. Johnson’s press conference was well organized, had the 
appropriate people present, was candid and allowed the media to ask any 
questions they had about the issue. His PR team was able to turn a real life‐
altering issue into something positive and optimistic for all who were fans of or 
involved with Magic Johnson. Instead of the media focusing on the fact that 
Johnson contracted this disease because he had multiple sexual partners, the 
media showcased that Johnson was becoming a spokesperson to try to prevent 
others from making the same mistake.
 
 

72
Kobe Bryant 
Drafted out of high school, Bryant played in his first NBA game in 1996 at 
age 18 and became the youngest player ever selected to the All‐Star game.
87
 The 
morning after the alleged rape, Eagle County Sheriff investigators confronted 
Bryant with the sexual assault accusation
88
. Now Bryant’s public relations team 
had to explain this situation to the public and explain why the young basketball 
star they admired was being arrested and charged with rape. Bryant was 
arrested on July 4, immediately released on $25,000 bond and news of the arrest 
became public two days after that. On July 18, 2003, the Eagle County District 
Attorney’s office filed a formal charge against Bryant for sexual assault
89
: 
Respond‐ After he was formally charged on July 18, 2003, Bryant held a 
press conference
90
 in which he adamantly denied having raped the woman. The 
conference lasted about nine minutes with Bryant’s public relations 
spokesperson controlling most of the information, and Bryant just sat with his 
wife, appearing very upset. His spokesperson stated that Bryant was innocent of 
the charges, falsely accused and that there was minimal evidence for a 
conviction. Bryant then spoke candidly to the media, was emotional, and on the 
verge of tears. He kept saying “I’m innocent” and that he was furious at himself 
for doing this to his family. When he was finished speaking, Bryant, his wife and 
his spokesperson left without answering any questions from the media. 
Although there were many media personnel present, Bryant declined to say 
more. 
 

73
Assess‐The biggest challenge for Bryant was to prove to the public that he 
did not commit this crime. Holding the press conference allowed Bryant to ease 
some of the public’s concerns and explain to them his side of the story and how 
he was going to handle it.
Communicate‐Given that this was a legal issue, it was very difficult for 
Bryant to discuss details of the case without hurting his chances of a just and fair 
trial. Although most public relations professionals would applaud this strategy, 
some question his refusal to address additional questions. 
Evaluate‐From a public relations standpoint, the Kobe Bryant case was 
managed fairly well. The press conference was held in a timely manner, although 
Bryant could have addressed the media before his arrest was leaked to the 
public. It took about two weeks after the public knew Bryant was arrested, for 
him to hold a conference. However, he wasn’t officially charged with sexual 
assault until two weeks after his arrest, and this makes the timing of the 
conference a bit more relative. It’s hard to criticize this case too much because 
there are a lot of legal issues involved that prevented Bryant from talking to the 
media and sharing his side of the story. Once the charges were dropped and 
Bryant was free to continue playing for the Lakers, that’s when the real public 
relations challenge started. Bryant had to prove his image and reputation to the 
public and rebuild himself as an athlete. Athletically, Bryant has bounced back 
with flying colors. In 2004 the Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals but fell short 
of the Championship that year.
 

74
Bryant led his team to an Olympic victory in Beijing in 2008 and won the NBA 
Championship in 2009 and 2010
91
. Bryant signed a seven‐year $136 million 
contract after the allegations, and regained several of his endorsements with 
Nike, Spalding and Coca‐Cola
92
. Personally, he remains married to his wife 
Vanessa, and has appeared to be faithful to her for the past seven years.
 
Tiger Woods 
The overall issue and scandal of the Tiger Woods case was that he was a 
beloved, admired, revolutionary individual who was always presented to the 
media as an honest family‐man with strong values, in the midst of not just one, 
but multiple cases of adulterous behavior. Woods literally changed the sport of 
golf into what we know it as today. He created interest and hype in an otherwise 
dull sport that had lacked human interest since the days of Arnold Palmer and 
Jack Nicklaus. He ranks among the best golfers of all time and is the highest‐paid 
professional athlete in the world
93
. He is the youngest player to achieve the 
career Grand Slam and the youngest and fastest to win 50 tournaments on 
tour
94
. Tiger wasn’t just a golfer. Tiger was golf. Richard Lapchick said, “In a lot 
of ways Tiger Woods has broken the hearts of a lot of people who looked at him 
as a role model who was above all those things. It was just so far out of bounds 
with what anyone considers normal behavior”
95
. So the challenge Woods’ public 
relations personnel have, is how to present him to the media now. 
 
 

75
Respond‐This entire scandal started erupted on Thanksgiving in November 
2009. That was when the public first learned of Woods’ car accident. For the next 
couple of months, the public heard nothing, not a word from Woods or his wife. 
There was a media frenzy surrounding many young women who claimed to have 
had relationships with him, but nobody from the Woods team was stepping up to 
set the record straight. At the press conference outlined earlier in this thesis, 
Tiger controlled every aspect of the event. This was the last and only time Woods 
addressed this scandal with the media and still refuses to talk about it when 
asked by reporters.
Assess‐The biggest challenge for Woods was trying to rebuild the public’s 
faith in him that he was still a good person and a great athlete. Woods made this 
very difficult to do because he didn’t come out and explain himself right away. 
He hid from the media and the public for so long and allowed the situation to get 
out of control, seeming very guilty and dishonest in the process.
Communicate‐Woods and his public relations spokespeople did a terrible 
job of communicating with the media and the public. It is the duty of the public 
relations spokesperson to speak on behalf of his/her client to inform the public 
and put them at ease. Instead, the entire Woods team hid from the media for 
months and just let the situation spiral out of control. With rare exception, the 
more squeaky‐clean the celebrity appears to be, the more aggressive the media 
scrutiny tends to be.
 
 

76
Evaluate‐ From a public relations standpoint, the Tiger Woods case was not 
managed well at all. Mistakes were made in the very beginning from the moment 
Woods allegedly hit his neighbor’s tree. The number one rule in public relations 
practice is to always be ahead of the media to have control of the situation. The 
Woods public relations efforts seemed non‐existent. By the time he did apologize 
and speak to the public, his words sounded fake and rehearsed. Woods lost 
many of his fans and is still working to rebuild himself. However, in a poll 
conducted by Harris Interactive in June 2010, Woods still remains number one 
as America’s Favorite Sports Star; ironically he now shares the title with Kobe 
Bryant
96
. Even though this offers a little hope for Tiger Woods, he still has a long 
way to go in rebuilding his public image before he gets anywhere near the Tiger 
Woods America adored before that 2009 Thanksgiving Day.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

77
Chapter 11 Endnotes 

82
Cummings, Denis "On This Day: Magic Johnson Reveals That He Has HIV" 
On This Day, (Finding Dulcinea, 7 Nov 2009). 
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on‐this‐day/November/Magic‐Johnson‐
Reveals‐That‐He‐Has‐HIV.html. 
 
83
Magic Johnson announces retirement Nov 7, 1991, Press Conference, 
YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSfy4AhDDnw. 
 
84
Clamen, Liz, "Magic Johnson Means Business" LA Times Magazine Nov 
2008. http://www.latimesmagazine.com/2008/11/magic‐johnson‐
business.html. 
 
85
Randolph, Laura "Magic and Cookie Johnson speak out for the first time 
on love, AIDS and marriage" (Ebony Magazine 1 Apr 1992). 
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1‐12102833.html. 
 
86
Gupta, Sanjay "Magic Johnson pushes HIV awareness" (CNN 24 Nov 
2004). http://articles.cnn.com/2004‐11‐23/health/cnna.magic_1_hiv‐earvin‐
magic‐johnson‐difficult‐time?_s=PM:HEALTH. 
 
87
"Kobe and LeBron by the numbers" NBA , (Sports Illustrated, 2 Apr 2009). 
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/basketball/nba/03/11/kobe.lebron.nu
mbers/index.html. 
 
88
Brass, Kevin "Trial and Error? A Roaming Band of Journalists Crisscrosses 
the Country to Provide Television Coverage of Every Minor Development in 
Celebrity Court Cases. Is This a Wise Use of Resources and Airtime?." American 
Journalism Review 28. (2004): 
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=AA27D5C92B46921795
8EA86EEEA2F72F.inst2_3a?docId=5006038563. 
 
89
Brass, 54 
 
90
"Kobe Claims Innocence to Sexual Assault Charges," Press Conference, 
YouTube: 18 July 2003. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSamEqtPVao. 
 
91
"Kobe Earns Master’s In Leadership," One Man Fast Break, 15 June 2009. 
http://www.onemanfastbreak.net/2009/06/15/kobe‐bryant‐leads‐his‐lakers‐
to‐nba‐title/. 
 
 
 

78

92
 Shain, Jeff. "Fallen stars: A look at 10 disgraced athletes." Orlando Sentinel 
(2010). http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010‐03‐20/sports/os‐tiger‐
woods‐fallen‐stars‐box‐0321‐20100320_1_fallen‐stars‐dogfighting‐operation‐
aftermath. 
 
93
Barazi, Shayrgo "10 Highest Paid Athletes," Mens Weekly, 17 Apr 2010. 
http://www.mensweekly.net/2010/04/17/10‐highest‐paid‐athletes‐2/. 
 
94
"Tiger Woods‐Career Profile," Talk Golf, 2007. http://www.talk‐
golf.co.uk/guides/tiger_woods.html. 
 
95
Dahlberg, 2. 
 
96
"Tiger is Still America's Favorite Sports Star, but Shares Title with Kobe 
Bryant" Harris Polls, Harris Interactive, 20 July 2010. 
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom/HarrisPolls/tabid/447/mid/15
08/articleId/441/ctl/ReadCustom%20Default/Default.aspx 

79
Chapter 12: Analysis 
Research and case studies on the topic of professional athletes and media 
invasion put the public and media in a tough situation. Are athletes entitled to 
personal privacy as human beings or are they exempt from this privilege 
because they are considered celebrities? After much consideration, the author 
believes the latter is true. Once an athlete becomes a professional, he/she puts 
themselves at risk for a whole new game. They put themselves at risk to make a 
fortune, to become great and showcase their talents and become known 
worldwide. However, what most athletes don’t realize is that with this 
“superstardom” comes public scrutiny into their private lives.
The public expects more out of public figures and athletes must act 
accordingly. Once an athlete is deemed a superstar, this notion is multiplied. As 
Keith Boykin points out, 
Whatever the case, professional athletes will always be role models. 
Whether they all deserve that status is a different story. But that’s no 
different from any other field. Not all doctors and lawyers are good people 
either. So yes, let’s hold our athletes to a high standard, but let’s not judge 
all of them by the mistakes of few.
97
 
 
Regardless of whether they want to admit it or not, professional athletes are role 
models. Many leagues, such as the NFL, have recognized this and have gone as 
far as to create a “behavior” contract to ensure their athletes are best 
representing themselves and the team
98
. As Brian McClellan, blogger for “BC 
Sports” points out,
 
 
 

80
None of us get to opt out of the obligation as role model. We are all role 
models to someone whether we like it or not. Someone is always 
watching our behavior when deciding how to behave for themselves. 
People in the public eye have an additional burden because they are 
watched by so many more people.
99
 
 
Bottom Line: Athletes are public figures and role models, and must act 
appropriately.
Today, it’s not just traditional media that public figures need to look out 
for, but social media as well. Social Media is a vital strategy to building a 
professional athlete’s brand, but does come with repercussions. Communication 
is instant and can go viral in a matter of minutes. Anyone can get a photo of an 
athlete behaving poorly. Saying the wrong thing on Facebook or Tweeting 
something inappropriate can be extremely costly, such as was the case with 
Larry Johnson (see Chapter 5, Sports and Social Media section). But social media 
can be a true asset as well. If a rumor is circulating about an athlete, the athlete 
can quickly correct it through social media. However, when athletes use social 
media, they expose themselves to the world and putting their personal 
information out for the public to see. In doing so, they give a free pass into their 
private lives, and therefore risk being exposed for failures in the future.
Bottom Line: Athletes must clearly understand the benefits and liabilities 
of social media before becoming involved. 
Finally, why is the introduction of crisis management so important for a 
professional athlete? It is vital for the athlete and his/her public relations 
representation to have an action plan in place from day one. It is always easier 

81
to play the offense, rather than the defense in dealing with these scandals. The 
case studies have shown just how important it is to take control of a situation 
before it gets out of hand. The Magic Johnson case was handled almost perfectly, 
because Johnson and his PR team were able to handle the issue and address the 
media before the news broke to the public. It presented Johnson in a much more 
positive manner and made the situation a little less frightening because Johnson 
was the one telling the public the news, not the media having to spread 
supposed truths. Compare this to the Tiger Woods case, and it is clear just how 
important being in control of the story is. Woods refused to address the media 
and instead allowed them to report the story how they wanted. It nearly cost 
him his reputation and today, it is still unclear whether his image will ever 
recover from this fallout.
Bottom Line: It is vital to have a crisis management plan in place to stay in 
control of a situation and prepare yourself for all possible scenarios.
These case studies represented an array of public relations crises that 
were handled well and were handled poorly. Even though these cases involved 
issues regarding an athlete’s personal life, it is important to realize that these 
lessons can be applied to any crisis situation. There are lessons to be learned 
from each scenario, which can be applied to public relations crises in the future. 
The most important of these lessons being, to stay ahead of the media and 
always communicate with the public and your stakeholders.
 
 

82
Chapter 12 Endnotes 

97
Boykin, 2. 

98
"The NFL's Code of Conduct" (PostGazette 21 Apr 2010). 
http://www.post‐gazette.com/pg/10111/1052222‐66.stm. 

99
McClellan, Brian, "Death of the Sports Role Model?" BC Sports, Blog Critics, 
24 Aug 2007. http://blogcritics.org/sports/article/death‐of‐the‐sports‐role‐
model/. 

83
Chapter 13: The Do’s and Don’ts of Representing Professional Athletes 
“The fewer rules a coach has, the fewer rules there are for players to 
break.” (John Madden) 
The following list of the “Do’s and Don’ts” of representing professional 
athletes provide some tips on how to handle scandal situations. These tips are 
important for any PR professional who wants to represent a professional athlete 
and could possibly prevent a scandal from spinning out of control: 
 
• Do understand the importance of responding quickly and efficiently to 
the crisis, even if it is to say “We are looking into the situation.” Let the 
public and your stakeholders hear the news from your client’s team first 
 
• Do have an open communication plan with the public and do not hide 
behind an agent or representative; if the issue is about the athlete, the 
public needs to see the athlete 
 
• Do provide updates to the media and to the public when new information 
evolves; take all media seriously, especially online media. Use social 
media to your advantage to create platforms to share important updates 
 
• Don’t ever deny the situation if you know there is any possibility that the 
athlete could be guilty of the allegations 
 

84
• Do encourage your athlete to approach public life like a public official. 
They are role models whether they like it or not and pro athletes will 
benefit from accepting that they’re held to a higher standard of public 
scrutiny 
 
• Do build a positive image early in the game. Promote community 
involvement and professional achievements to build a positive image in 
the press. Keep an eye on how the athlete’s image may impact current 
and potential sponsors 
 
• Do create a crisis management plan as soon as you decide to represent 
the athlete. Plan for any and every possible situation that could arise, 
appoint specific spokespeople for the media and prepare statements to 
give the public 
 
• Don’t allow an athlete to use social media as a platform for complaints or 
starting arguments. Use social media to your advantage, not to raise 
issues 
 
• Do have open communication with your athlete. Establish the importance 
of always being kept in the loop with your client relative to what is going 
on in their world. Having no surprises means you’re never caught off 
guard 

85
Chapter 14: Conclusion Section 
Conclusions 
The main problem my thesis solved was how to successfully manage and 
mitigate a scandal within the sports world. Another problem addressed was that 
too many scandals are out of control and need to be handled correctly with a 
coherent, well‐articulated crisis management plan. Finally, the issue of athletes 
being out of control, behaving poorly and needing to get back to being role 
models was also solved.
1. As shown in Chapter 13, “The Do’s and Don’ts of Representing 
Professional Athletes,” information is given on how a public relations 
professional can successfully handle a crisis before it gets out of 
control. 
2. As shown in Chapter 10, ‘Case Studies’ chapter, immoral activity 
among athletes is becoming all too common. Having a successful crisis 
management plan in place will help keep these activities from 
spiraling out of control into full‐blown scandals.
3. As shown in Figure 2, athletes are still role models for many older 
individuals, and continue to be admired by our youth. Athletes need to 
accept this responsibility and start acting appropriately. 
 
Summary of Contributions 
I have developed many contributions to aid in helping public relations 
professionals manage sports scandals.

86
The contributions made include: 
1. Developing a “Do and Don’t” list for representing professional 
athletes. 
2. Demonstrating that athletes are role models and have an impact on 
children. 
3. Demonstrating that social media has a huge influence on the 
perception of athletes.
4. Proving the necessity of having a crisis management plan in place 
before choosing to represent an athlete.
Future Research 
If further research is conducted on this topic, I would recommend the 
following steps: 
1. Surveying a wider audience, including all types of gender and racial 
profiles worldwide.
2. Observing new technologies that arise in the future and how they will 
either benefit or harm professional athletes. 
3. Studying the success of instances in the future where a crisis 
management plan was used to handle a crisis situation with a 
professional athlete.
Having a crisis management plan for professional athletes can be very successful 
and beneficial to the sports world. The athlete is a significant factor in his or her 
success, if the athlete is willing to put in the work required and act responsibly 
to better their image.

87
Each of these three cases proved just how important it is to handle a crisis 
situation correctly, because every athlete is considered a role model to someone 
in society. Take these points into consideration when choosing to become 
involved in sports PR, and it will ensure being one step closer to success. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

88
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Creator Anthony, Nicole Marie (author)

Core Title When the mighty fall. Pro athletes and the media: how to mitigate and manage a scandal

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 01/24/2011

Defense Date 01/24/2011

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag crisis management,media invasion,mitigate and manage a scandal,OAI-PMH Harvest,professional athletes,scandal,sports management

Place Name USA (countries)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Floto, Jennifer D. (committee chair), Durbin, Daniel (committee member), Kotler, Jonathan (committee member)

Creator Email nanthony@usc.edu,nicole.anthony3@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m3620

Unique identifier UC181767

Identifier etd-Anthony-4251 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-428930 (legacy record id),usctheses-m3620 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Anthony-4251.pdf

Dmrecord 428930

Document Type Thesis

Rights Anthony, Nicole Marie

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu