A Pro Bowl tight end was recently cut by his team. Nothing new there … except that this one, Aaron Hernandez of the New England Patriots, is facing a murder trial. The charge is the latest in a series of increasingly violent behavior that has been well-documented, particularly in a recent Rolling Stone article, "The Gangster in the Huddle."
Despite having enough talent to hold the world in his hands, Hernandez spiraled into a pattern of deadly criminality fueled by substance abuse - his drug of choice being angel dust, or PCP - that proved to be irresistible.
Hernandez is just the most recent combination of natural ability and utter unsuitability to be a professional athlete.
Athletes who veer into criminality are not a new phenomenon, though thankfully not all of their stories end so dramatically with a body count. So why were the warning signs overlooked?
Sports is big business, and an athlete's ability to produce results is often prioritized over his off-field indiscretions. We can understand why - even if we don't condone it. Would a club stand by and watch their star player serve time if they could convince the police to turn a blind eye?
Hernandez repeatedly failed drug tests and got into brawls during his college and pro career, but they were brushed under the carpet by his coaches and the cops looked the other way. Did that inaction lead to a sense of untouchability that fueled his later misdemeanors?
Breno Borges, the Brazilian Bayern Munich defender, has recently gone on day release from his jail sentence for burning down his rented villa. When he committed the crime, it was during a long injury lay-off; he was depressed and had been drinking heavily. His club has stood by him throughout. Borges is spending his time outside in a coaching role with their reserve side. Both parties hope he will continue his top-level playing career once his sentence is over.
Ravel Morrison, a Manchester United youth prospect rated as the best-produced by the academy since Paul Scholes, used to be mixed up in witness intimidation in his native Manchester. With his move to West Ham, Morrison made a clean break from his checkered past. His manager has spoken of him as "maturing," which England fans hope will translate into him fulfilling his potential.
Sports stars often come from the wrong side of the tracks, which is inevitable when physical prowess seems like a surer route to success than school. With such an upbringing comes assorted hangers-on who have charge sheets longer than the zeroes on the athlete's first professional paycheck.
We can only hope that organizations start to prioritize what's best for the athlete in the long term above what's best for the team in the short term.
The author is a copy editor with the Global Times.
jonathanwhite@globaltimes.com.cn