Ex-Chief Joe Phillips: Another Reminder that Sports Heroes Often Live Disturbing Lives

By CHRIS RASMUSSEN

Yesterday, former Chiefs defensive lineman Joe Phillips resurfaced online with a rant as disturbing as one would expect from someone on the lam in Oregon. This falls on the heels of the equally disturbing story of former Chief Bill Maas and other former and current athletes that make the sports page — the “toy department” of every newspaper — resemble a police blotter.

Which begs the question: why do I watch sports? After all, we root for incomplete human beings.

As a kid, I was blissfully ignorant of the foibles of athletes. In part, this was the naïveté of a child. But the news media of my youth also shielded me from the obvious, as they were unwilling or unable to publish stories about the private lives of those who played in public.

Then I grew up.

You learn that athletes live imperfect and occasionally quite disturbing personal lives. Or, like many of us do, attempt to gain a slight advantage in their profession through unethical means. Even if I wanted to be ignorant of this, today’s media coverage will not let me.

I wish I could say that I follow sports with the enthusiasm I had when I was a kid. On occasion, I respond to athletes’ personal issues with cynicism and snark because it’s easy and lazy. Like some, I occasionally withdraw from the 24-hour news cycle, as it is simply exhausting to read about yet another athlete behaving poorly. Sometimes I just don’t care. Sometimes I just care whether “my” team wins. As Jerry Seinfeld said, I root for laundry.

I do find myself following sports in a more nuanced way on occasion.

I root for Brian Bannister to defy the radar gun and find success as a result of his guile, as I

identify with those who need to overcome physical limitations with their mind. I root for Zach Greinke to overcome his personal difficulties and anxiety, as I too have personal difficulties and anxiety I must overcome. I even root for Billy Butler to become so valuable as a hitter that we amused by his limitations in the field and on the base paths, as I pray the assets that I occasionally exhibit outweigh my numerous defects.

I root for incomplete human beings because I understand and appreciate that I am incomplete myself.