>I make a distinction when an athlete does commercial endorsements (and Vick certainly was involved with those!) In that instance, there's an increased level of responsibility.

But it seems to me in that case, it's the company whose products are endorsed that's on the hook for the athlete's behavior. What I'm questioning is the automatic assumption that just because someone is a professional-quality athlete, he should also be a model human being that we want our children to emulate.

FWIW, while I certainly pointed out menschs ("mensch" is a Yiddish word literally meaning "man," but used to mean a person who lives a model life) among athletes to my kids, we looked at a much broader scope for our role models, and in fact, tried hard to be good role models ourselves.

Tamar