What makes a real hero?

Kids are asked all the time, “Who is your hero?” Most boys will respond by saying an athlete, and I wouldn’t be surprised if girls said an athlete as well. What makes these athletes heroes? Is Lebron James a hero because he can dunk a basketball? Is Tom Brady a hero because he can throw the deep ball? Is Michael Phelps a hero because he dominates in the pool?

The reason I ask this question is because I was recently watching sportscenter, and there was a piece about Brandon Inge, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. The segment was about how he donates time and money to a children’s hospital. I won’t explain the whole thing because all of you should check it out, but on two different occasions a kid asks him “Hit a home run in the game for me?”, and he does. At one point he breaks down and can’t believe that he had just hit a home run after the kid had asked him to. There are plenty of stories about athletes giving back, but for some reason this one made me stop and think about things. Things like this are the real reasons why athletes are heroes. Sure, kids love athletes for what they do on the field, but what they do off the field is what makes them real heroes.

It’s funny, when athletes get in trouble for off the field issues they always have a press conference and say sorry to the kids for letting them down and for being a bad influence. If the athlete really cared about being a good influence they would spend more time with those kids in the first place and less time doing things they shouldn’t.

These athletes need to realize that whether or not they want to be, they are heroes in the eyes of these kids. It is their responsibility to become a true hero for all of those kids. They should know best that a true hero made them become the player they are today. Ask any athlete today who their hero was when they were growing up, and I am willing to bet they would say an athlete in the same sport that they are playing. Once upon a time they were kids, and they needed heroes. So I ask, when are all athletes going to realize that they needed a hero when they were a kid so now it is their job to be someone’s hero?