Imagine your little sister calls you and tells you she is dating a professional athlete. I don’t know about you, but my immediate reaction would be NO WAY!! Cheater! BAD BOY! Stay Away!
Has she not watched VH1’s “Basketball Wives”?!?!
We always hear about it when athletes make the news for negative reasons. Just this past week, retired baseball outfielder Manny Ramirez was arrested for allegedly slapping his wife. Last year, NFL’s QB Ben Roethlisberger was accused of rape, and how could we forget NBA star Kobe Bryant’s drama? Kobe, who is married with children, was accused of rape, denied the rape charges but admitted to cheating on his wife.
Both star athletes were found not guilty in court, but would we trust these guys with our sisters, or one day our daughters?
We hear about the athletes cheating on their wives or girlfriends, getting caught with drugs, and getting DUI’s, getting into bar fights, dog fights, carrying guns and even accidentally shooting themselves with their own guns….(remember NFL’s Plaxico Burress). Who can blame us for the negative perception we have about athletes?
But today, instead of looking at all the “bad boys” in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, let’s take a moment to recognize “good guys.” Here are five professional athletes that we would definitely let our sisters, daughters, and girlfriends date!
1. Nnamdi Asomugha – Football player, Philadelphia Eagles
One of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, this 30-year-old signed a 60 million dollar deal with the Philadelphia Eagles during this past off season. But we won’t see this guy blowing the cash on cars, houses and vacations. He’s known to be very humble, which is a great quality to see in a superstar athlete. While most of Asmugha’s teammates drive Mercedes, Porsches, and Hummers, he chooses to stick with what works – his 1997 Nissan Maxima.
Nnamdi is known for giving back to the community. Asomugha and his family created two foundations OWIN (Orphans and Widows In Need), and ACTS (Asomugha College Tour for Scholars). OWIN provides shelter, food, medicine, job training, scholarships to women and children who have experienced abuse, and poverty in Nigeria.
Nnmadi’s other foundation ACTS helps high school students from LA and the SF Bay Area go to college. This guy is a true philanthropist, who has worked with former President Bill Clinton in the Clinton Global Initiative which is designed to motivate college students to take action in issues such as poverty, education, and healthcare.
2. Sidney Crosby – Hockey player, Pittsburgh Penguins
Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky was known as “The Great One” – at 24-years-old, Sidney Crosby has been called “The Next One.” Sidney Crosby is someone that your child could look up to as a role model: he shows good sportsmanship, and plays the game of hockey with a great level of confidence and skill, but never with any trace of arrogance.
Crosby works with children, and recently started working with Canadian hockey players starting at 10 years old to put them through concussion tests, something that he is very familiar with.
When Crosby believes in something he finds a way to support the cause. You might see him in Reebok and Gatorade ads but he will never be in an ad that he doesn’t support. He’s always known for taking the time to sign autographs to his young fans. Sidney is also super cute, I might add!
3. Tim Tebow – Football player, Denver Broncos
Looking for a religious guy? NFL quarterback Tim Tebow could be your man. As a sophomore at the University of Florida, he won the Heisman Trophy and gained a reputation for his devout beliefs – especially the fact that he was saving himself for marriage.
Going into his second season in the NFL, he’s still known as a great guy but now he’s also trying to prove himself as a great quarterback. Tebow’s dad is a Christian pastor and his mother homeschooled him. He is very religious, and often uses his black eye paint to write biblical scripts during football games.
During the 2009 BCS Championship, he wrote John 3:16 under his eye which led to 92 million Google searches to see what message Tebow was sending. Curious what the message was? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.“
4. Derek Jeter – Baseball player, New York Yankees
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I am not a Yankees fan, so it’s very hard for me to put him on this list, but you’ll really never hear a bad word spoken about Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. At 37 years old, Jeter has never been married, but he’s shown that he’s the “committment” type by staying with the same team, the New York Yankees, for 17 seasons.
He is also a forgiving man who doesn’t hold grudges. After having a behind-the-scenes disagreement with baseball star Alex Rodriguez, he put their differences aside when Rodriguez joined the Yankees, and together they helped the team win the World Series in 2009.
And he’s on the market – after breaking up with actress Minka Kelly this summer, Derrick Jeter is officially single!
5. Blake Griffin – Basketball player, Los Angeles Clippers
Known as one of the “Good Guys” in the NBA, this 22-year-old was named “Rookie Of The Year” this year. Growing up, he attended Oklahoma Christian High School, where he played basketball.
Now that he’s a star, Griffin gives back. He started a foundation called “Dunking for Dollars” where he gives money to children for every dunk he does during a game.
He also donated the 2011 Kia Optima that helped him win the NBA All Star Slam Dunk Contest to a public auction to raise money for Stand Up To Cancer, a fundraising organization benefiting cancer research.
The donation was in memory of his childhood friend and former teammate, Wilson Holloway, who passed away in February at the age of 22 after a three-year battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Although the list is ever-changing (three years ago, Tiger Woods probably would have made the “good guy” list, and look how that turned out), we hope that these guys prove that there are good role models in the sports world – good men who don’t cheat, who give back to the community, and who don’t drink and drive! These are the type of athletes we should look up to.. and the type you would love to see your single sister or best girlfriend date!
Who are your favorite good guy athletes? Let me know who would have topped your list!
