Professional sports getting too personal?

In the wake of the confusion and turmoil sparked by the Manti Te'o media frenzy, one must ask himself, are sports getting too personal?  At what point does an athlete's actions off the field start negatively impacting their approval amongst sports fans? Te'o was listed second on ESPN's Heisman Watch Experts Poll in early December. According to The Daily Caller, his approval rating was an astounding 88% during the BCS National Championship game. After the news of the scandal broke, his approval dropped to 15%. Does a personal issue merit a 73% drop?

Reports say that Te'o's draft stock has luckily not taken such a drastic hit. When the 6'2" linebacker out of Notre Dame does inevitably get drafted, there will undoubtedly be fans saying he shouldn't have been drafted at all due to the recent scandal. Other athletes have also been pulled through this media frenzy to eventually escape with low approval ratings.

According to Forbes, America's least favorite athletes of exactly one year ago included Tiger Woods, Kris Humphries, Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress. Upon reading these names, any sports fan will most likely immediately recall a personal issue or conflict that made these athletes' approval ratings take a nosedive.

Then, of course, there's the unavoidable question if professional athletes are held to a different standard. A regular student's relationship (?) issues would not have received national media coverage. The Te'o scandal is a newsworthy story simply due to his status as a soon-to-be professional football player. How much criticism and ridicule are athletes exposing themselves to. Is it unfair? Or just part of the lifestyle they signed up for? An athlete may be a superhuman physically, but that doesn't mean they're infallible superheroes.

Is this focus on an athlete's personal issues and/or poor choices partially to blame on the media? It seems there is a constant focus on the negative aspects of a player's personal life. Rarely does one see the media promoting the good things professional athletes are doing on their own and off the field. For example, New York Giants' Hakeem Nicks has a program called Helping Hands that gave 150 poverty-stricken children backpacks full of food. Nicks, himself, even discussed the importance of a healthy, balanced diet. Steelers' Lamarr Woodley, and his foundation, helped promote a Pittsburgh based non-profit dedicated to reducing the city's crime. These efforts are something to be celebrated, yet the news is filled with whether or not Te'o's girlfriend does in fact exist.

Professional athletes are role models to youth all over the nation. Should athletes be weary of this role model status and behave accordingly? Or should the media simply let their personal life remain personal?

All athletes have the power and resources to do amazing things for their communities. If the media and fans are going to get personal about a should-be private life and seemingly glorify the mistakes or negatives, athletes' philanthropic efforts are even more newsworthy and should be treated as such.