Kevin Garnett has won the citizenship award AND is widely know to be one of the dirtiest players of his generation.
Gilbert Arenas is widely known for flashing a gun in the locker room over card game winnings (the guy he pulled it on, Javaris Crittenton is indicted on manslaughter iirc) but in reality is one of the most generous NBA players I’ve personally known. He gives away his jersey and shoes after every home game at his own cost, and financially looked after an orphaned boy after his parents were lost to a fire, as well as done personal out-of-pocket donations to area Elementary schools based on how many points he scored. He was super generous with his money to underprivileged kids, fans, and would play in Barry Farms - DC’s version of Rucker Park in the summertime. A bit of a recluse but really as far as players go, a guy who at least tried to do right.
The Chicago media thought the same of Walter Payton- turned out later, he was a philanderer (who brought his gal pal to his Hall of Fame induction, even as he had his son read the induction speech) and a drug abuser.
I’m as disappointed as anyone. But if Walter wasn’t as saintly as his image, how do I know anybody else is?
I know that he’s been mentioned, but Mariano Rivera is certified bona fide, imho. Witness his farewell tour, in which he is spending time with club employees as well as fans.
[QUOTE=Jeff Benner, the Rockies senior director for season tickets]
“It’s pretty special,” he said. “I’ve been in the game 21 years. This is my career. Even though I’m not a Yankee fan, the role that he has played in this game – for me to be here along with some of my other colleagues is pretty neat. It’s special for him to take the time to do this. He dosen’t have to do this. And what’s neat is it appears he’s gaining something on a personal level. He’s trying to give back to the game. The game has given him a lot; he’s giving back in his way.”
[/QUOTE]
I will add Steve Young to the Football Nice Guys list. Steve Young is a classy guy. In his competition with Joe Montana, Young handled himself with class, and you know he is very competitive. Montana, OTH, although I love his on-field accomplishments, did not handle himself very well during that QB controversy. Montana wasn’t ugly. He just wasn’t classy, and he certainly was not like how Young handled himself.
For hockey, it’s gotta be Nicholas Lidstrom on the good guys side - one of the classiest captains in one of the classiest franchises in hockey. His teammates called him “the perfect human.” There’s a 20 minute documentary of him on YouTube that’s beautiful - you’d never know from how he walks around and interacts with all the fans and arena staff that he’s a first ballet HOFer and one of the best defensemen of all time.
John Landy. Battling with Roger Bannister for the 4-minute mile (different sides of the planet). In a top-class race where a good time was on (perfect set-up for a record) another athlete fell (Ron Clarke). Landy stopped running, helped him up and then took off after the field again.
When I worked in advertising, some of my co-workers did some projects with Ernie. Their account was that he was generally a good guy, but kind of a flake, and could be a little on the high-maintenance side.
However, this was within the past 10-15 years, at which point Mr. Banks was in his 60s and 70s, and may not reflect what he was like during his playing days.
The Arenas-Crittenton gun incident always seemed to me like a joke that got of hand. Of course, introducing a gun in a situation like that is always a bad idea, but I never got the impression that Arenas was seriously gonna shoot the guy. Actually, Crittenton is the one who comes off seeming kinda unbalanced. Here’s Arenas’ account of the incident.
