By JONAS MILLER
Opinion Editor
When Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer in baseball history, retired, a special part of professional baseball was lost. He brought perfection to life every time he stepped onto the diamond. What if I told you he put pine tar on the ball, turning every pitch he ever threw into a big, fat, pinstriped lie? Disappointment is the only word that comes to mind when I consider what a tragedy that would be.
Switch over to professional football, the NFL, where the spotlight is on arguably the greatest receiver to ever play. Jerry Rice, he was good, the ideal player. But, and pardon my pun, there’s a catch. He cheated.
Rice, long retired, recently admitted during an interview that he put Stickum on his gloves before games. Stickum, for those of you that were wondering, is a sticky spray, to put it simply. It adds texture to a receiver’s gloves, making them “sticky.” You might be thinking, “Well yeah how else would he catch the football?,” but there’s a major issue in Rice’s actions. Rice played in the NFL from 1985 to 2004; Stickum was put on the banned substances list in…any guesses? 1981. This fact alone makes every catch Rice ever made, with Sitckum on his gloves, illegal. Rice caught over 1,500 footballs in his career; it’d be a real shame if that number were reset to zero.
I have several problems with this whole situation. The first one being the fact that I, a 5’ 10” white boy from upstate New York, will never get to play professional football. I am undersized, under skilled, and under appreciated because of my geographic location. You don’t go to Plattsburgh, NY to find the next NFL superstar, and you never will. Rice, born in Mississippi with natural speed, excelled in high school football, igniting his future as an NFL star. If only I were born with natural God-given talent, and a body that would eventually grow to 6 foot 2 inches tall, and 200 pounds heavy. Maybe then I could be given the opportunity to cheat my way through one of the greatest* careers in NFL history.
On to my next point, which is that rules are set for a reason. Rules regulate the game, any game, so that it is fair for everyone, no matter their size or stature. SO, when those rules are broken, you’d think that would be an issue huh? Ever heard of a little saying that goes “WHEN YOU BREAK THE RULES IT’S ILLEGAL?” Jerry freakin’ Rice sure hasn’t. In an interview he did with ESPN.com on January 17th, Rice says “I know this might be a little illegal, guys, I just put a little spray, a little stickum on them, to make sure that texture is a little sticky.” A little illegal…really? So if I go out, and only get a little drunk, and then drive my car on the wrong side of the road, that’s only a little illegal? Oh wait no sorry, it’s actually VERY MUCH AGAINST THE RULES. If you break the rules by doing something that is not allowed, that “thing,” whatever it is, is labeled as “against the rules.” YOUR STICKUM IS ILLEGAL JERRY. I believe my point is made.
My first two points aside, I have a much deeper, much more troubling concern in regards to this whole fiasco. Jerry Rice has lived his life during and after football as a role model for aspiring superstars everywhere. Comparable to Lebron James, or Tiger Woods (before he went to the dark side,) or even Derek Jeter, Jerry Rice was looked up to for guidance. All of these men don’t just paly a sport, that set an example for the future athletes of our world. So when one of the most talented and awarded football players of all time reveals he did not gain that status fairly, what does it say to little Johnny, who plays catch with his dad in the backyard everyday? “Oh well Jerry Rice did it so I can/should do it too.” No Johnny, you cannot look up to Mr. Rice anymore, he has let you down; he has let us all down.
I would like to think that there is a bright side to this, because I try and find a bright side for every dark and bad situation, but I simply cannot. I know that being able t catch a football is not something everyone has the ability to do, so I take great pride in the fact that I am someone who can. But I know that if it wasn’t just my hands making the catch, that there was some kind of outside power aiding me, it would never feel as sweet.
Maybe something happened to Jerry. Maybe he met the wrong people, or just had a lapse in judgment. Whatever it was, it resulted in him cheating. If he hadn’t admitted it recently, we might never have known, but he did, and now we know forever whether we chose to accept it or not.
I’m actually overjoyed that Rice chose to tell us, because it would have been all together too ironic if the NFL’s most recognized receiver got “caught” cheating.
