Today in history we face an argument of whether professional athletes should or should not be role models for young kids. These men and women are put under a magnifying glass for the world to be amused by their talents. And, every now and then some athletes mess up. We take Johnny Manziel’s unruly behavior, Ray Rice’s domestic violence, Maria Sharapova’s doping scandal, Tiger Woods’ affairs, Adrian Peterson’s alleged child abuse, Mike Vick’s dog fighting, A-Rod’s doping reveal, to name a few, and generalize that athletes across the board make poor decisions. One of the most recent stories involved Laremy Tunsils’ hacked tweet exposing himself smoking weed which affected his draft pick in this year's NFL draft.

These individuals are put on a spotlight because of their extraordinary athletic capabilities and thus leave them more exposed and vulnerable to the average human eye. They make a living off of their God-given talents, yet are scrutinized more closely by the public eye than someone that uses his/her talents to work as per say an accountant. In no way am I defending the individuals that I have previously mentioned. In fact, because their careers are more exposed, I think they need to be more cautious of their actions. But I also think that it is absurd that there is a generalization that because of the actions of some athletes, there is this negative connotation of athletes being role models.

The actions of some should not take away from the good that other athletes possess. I think athletes have the platform to be some of the biggest role models for young children. Not only do they have the drive and work ethic to strive to be better at what they do, they also convey a story that to make it big, it takes dedication and effort.

There are athletes like Russell Wilson, Devon Still, David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Eli Manning, Larry Fitzgerald, Clayton Kershaw, Serena Williams, Derek Jeter, Mia Hamm, and many more that use their platforms to raise awareness for different youth programs. It could be as big as raising millions of dollars or even bringing a kid on a baseball field. On Wednesday, in Fenway Park, David Ortiz extended a warm welcome to 6-year-old Maverick Schutte. Schutte faces a heart defect that has led to several operations. He expressed that Ortiz is his favorite player upon which Ortiz announced the next home run hit would be for the 6-year-old himself. In a world filled with so much pain and evil, there come moments where all of this is forgotten because of athletes like David Ortiz. A simple action such as reaching back to kids like Schutte doesn’t take their conditions away, but gives them extra motivation to keep fighting.

Athletes will always be eyeballed for their actions because they will always be in the spotlight. One thing that will never change is that the world will always watch and love sports. However, the decisions of some should not forbid others from being tremendous role models to young kids. We love sports because it brings people together.

We can all think back to a time in our lives where a certain sports star was mesmerizing at his/her own sport. Mine happened to be gymnast Shawn Johnson, and although my height and inflexibility would never allow me to be anywhere competitive in gymnastics, I would always pretend to do gymnastic tricks.

Athletes are so much more than the person behind the bat, ball, raquet, etc., and they are so much more than the mistakes their peers make. Athletes like David Ortiz show the world that athletes can be trusted to be influential role models to all kids around the world.