I must disagree with your assessment of NASCAR drivers. Most drivers are very available and will sign autographs for as long as it takes. What fans don’t realize is that drivers have many demands on their time and when they have to cut short an autograph session, people think they are dicks. They would stay if they could. At Sonoma in 1991, I watch Dale Sr., Rusty and Kenny Wallace and a couple other drivers spend over 2 hours signing autographs during a downtime in the schedule. They stayed till the fans were gone.
@AK84 CR7 is an odd case, really. It seems like his at times sulky and petulant behaviour on the pitch has caused a lot of people to assume that he’s also like this off the pitch. In reality, if his constant philanthropy and decision to raise two children (and well, by all accounts I’ve heard) on his own are any indicator, he’s a pretty swell guy.
Messi, on the other hand, seems to have acquired a saintly reputation because he’s pretty demure on the pitch, when in reality he’s a tax-evading slimeball off the pitch.
In general though I don’t think the behavioural issues among “noveau riche” footballers is an issue specific to football. Financial mismanagement and shitty off-the-field behaviour is a staple of the NFL, too.
I happen to know several people at Old Trafford and without any exception they sang his praises, and these guys have seen many legends come and go. Similar things I have heard about Beckham.
Messi, yes, although from what I can tell thats Dad’s doing and he comes off as standoffish generally, but I have also heard that he is quite reserved which might explain that.
Yes, but my afore-mentioned friend said that whenever she see’s a well behaved one, it is almost ineviatble that they were from a well off background, which surprises her (and me). Not to say that you don’t have well behaved working class types, you do, but the well off ones seem a lot more grounded.
I’m surprised that GOOD and BAD seems to hinge on whether they give autographs or not.
Without that definition, I would have said that NFL players are the worst. They certainly seem to be in the news, police stations, and courts.
I could add hockey players as generally being good guys - I had three signed “Summit 72 Series” sets of cards because they were all nice enough (Tretiak included) to stop and sign them for me.
Entirely possible. As I acknowledged earlier, fans can be obnoxious, and a player who’s signed a bunch of scorecards and been “rewarded” with a chorus of “You sucks” when he can’t accomodate everyone won’t be eager to sign again.
But the fact remains, back in 1976, young White Sox shortstop Bucky Dent happily signed autographs for grateful Yankee fans. A few years later, when he was with the Yankees, he shunned autograph seekers (unless they had large breasts). And Bucky wasn’t atypical.
**The Bryan Brothers **in tennis are widely known for their kindness to fans and professionalism to the other players. They are the dominant doubles team for the past decade or so and are very approachable. Great guys, great athletes, and great representatives of American in international competitions.
Stan Wawrinka is also widely seen as a great guy to fans and other players. He was used to being the #2 Swiss player behind the giant Federer for years. Federer is a nice guy, but is obviously swarmed with attention. Stan used to sign autographs after their practice sessions and had a smaller crowd. Now, he’s won two Grand Slalm singles titles and pretty much everyone in the world is happy for him, wants his autograph, and has a great experience with him.
Heck, Federer probably is almost as happy about Stan being a dominant player as he was happy about his own successes.
It’s honestly sort of funny that Stan is apparently such a fan darling given how angry he comes off as on court. I remember during the FO final he won against Djokovic, it felt like he was literally feeding off his anger and indignation at the press; pummeling the ball in such a way that it seemed like he was doing it with outright malice.
Bit of an anecdote about Christiano Ronaldo.
My friend’s kid had a speech day at school a few years back, and they were told a special guest was coming. Turned out to be CR. Apparently he was charming, stayed for a long time, gave autographs and chatted with the kids. A lovely guy they all said. My friend asked the teacher how they managed to get him (he was at Manchester United at the time and a huge star). She said that the previous summer she was in her kitchen and heard a crash outside. She ran to her garden and found a Porsche had come off the road, crashed through her fence, and ended up in the greenhouse. Out stepped Ronaldo. He said he’d pay for all the damage, but was there anything he could do to keep it out of the papers.