With everything in the news right now just about everyone has an opinion. That includes athletes, but often times when it comes to athletes, especially professional ones, they are told "we don't want to hear it".... "stay in your lane".... "do your job." It's a sentiment occasionally even uttered by other athletes.
That's not only unfair, it's wrong.
Those in the spotlight have just as much a right as you or I to speak their minds. It's just that when they do they have a much larger megaphone. That doesn't mean that their aren't consequences to those opinions. That doesn't mean that every athlete must take a stand, must have a cause, some don't, or at least they don't have the urge to have those discussions publicly.
In a nation where freedom of speech extends to everyone it strikes me as odd that so many are ready to strip it from those often deified as hero's but then.... that's the real issue isn't it?
If your favorite athlete never says anything controversial, never says anything you disagree with, never shows their imperfections or off field uniqueness, then it becomes much easier for the average fan to graft themselves onto that athlete. It becomes much easier to use the inclusive "we" as opposed to the individualized "you" and "I."
It's fine to be passionate about you're favorite team but don't try to strip someone else of their individuality, just to bolster your own self image.
And that's today's take.
