Our Heroes Are Zeroes

Growing up, I was a huge fan of Steve Largent. A wide receiver with a perceived lack of talent but a knack for running routes and making plays, Largent had gone to the same high school (but at an earlier time) that I did and I could relate to his stature as a slowish white guy who had to outwork his opponent for respect in athletics.

When I went off to college, I received a class assignment that led to me scheduling a call with Largent, who transitioned from being a receiver for the Seattle Seahawks to being a U.S. Congressman representing Oklahoma. I was thrilled with the opportunity that I was going to actually get to talk to my childhood hero.

The problem was my image of Largent was built around the football player who represented everything I aspired to be while growing up. Instead, I found myself talking on the phone to a guy whose embrace of conservative values helped lead to his election to Congress. And unfortunately, my values don’t involve limits on what I do in the privacy of my own home, which was one of the issues he favored during our phone interview. Undoubtedly, there were other issues we disagreed on, but that was what stood out. I politely interviewed him without showing my disdain for his positions, but my thoughts about Largent were never the same.

This football stud was a political dud. My hero was a zero.

I was reminded of that phone call this past week when it was announced that Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze had made phone calls to a phone number belonging to an escort service. Apparently, this was a pattern discovered by school officials when they were investigating claims against the self-proclaimed Christian coach. Not being an Ole Miss fan, I had no ties to Freeze. However, his fall from grace surely affected lots of people out there who truly believed he was the Christian man he proclaimed to be.

We have seen dozens of examples of our “heroes” turning out to be “zeroes.” We have watched firsthand as KD transitioned from a caring community leader to a deserter whose selfishness was put front and center. The media reports involving O.J. Simpson still dog the man 22 years after he was first put in the spotlight for an alleged double homicide. Allegations against Bill Cosby are pending after an initial mistrial, but who would have thought this man would ever be accused of dozens of rapes?

Granted, my problem with Largent had more to do with me growing up to realize the two of us had different viewpoints away from the gridiron. With Freeze, he joins the conversations of past football coaching falls from grace that include the names Joe Paterno, Art Briles and Bobby Petrino (who has actually managed to overcome his reputation and become a head coach again). Other famous falls from grace include Roger Clemens, Tonya Harding, Anthony Weiner and Richard Nixon.

There is something about all these people that made us think highly of them, and all it took was one peek inside the looking glass for us to bail out on them. Would we like Superman as much if we found out he was using his X-ray vision to spy on women taking showers? If Captain America was secretly meeting on behalf of North Korea, would we still want him wearing our nation’s colors? Sure, they are made-up superheroes, but you get the point. All it takes is getting to know who our heroes really are and we are almost always disappointed.

Allan Carr once talked about the time he had a chance to meet renowned actor Paul Newman and the disappointment he experienced when he saw his hero for the first time in person.

“You should never meet your heroes,” Carr said. “I was so excited about meeting him, but he turned up in shell suit bottoms, slippers and a jumper. He was just so worn out and old, he wanted to go home.”

Sometimes what we don’t know is so much better than what we know. The truth is, our heroes almost always turn out to be zeroes on some level. So, be ready to find a new hero, possibly as soon as tomorrow.