Ron Artest, Clinton Portis Both Have Advice for Tiger Woods
While a significant portion of public opinion has branded Tiger Woods a terrible human being, there's one exclusive club that he might be more firmly supported in than ever: among other professional athletes.
Several have done things such as post 'Leave Tiger Alone!' messages on Twitter pages, but two have vocally taken stands in support of Woods in the last two days.
Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers did it in the form of a heartfelt, open letter to Tiger, empathizing with how difficult it is to maintain a marriage with temptation at every turn:
You made a mistake and you admitted your infidelity. I have made the same mistakes. Before I got married to my wife, I had a baby with another young lady, after I already had two by my girlfriend who is now my wife. We also had another baby which makes three for us and four for me. Two boys and two girls. My wife is a much better wife than I am a husband.
The letter is typical Artest: insightful, self-reflective and at the same time unapologetic for being imperfect. His point that many of the criticisms being leveled at Woods are coming from people who also have bad marriages or who have done hurtful things to people they care about.
Clinton Portis of the Washington Redskins had more measured comments, but get to the root of the problem: why get married if you aren't ready to?
"But I say don't get married, if it's not out of your system. I'm not married. You know, I would love to be able to say, I'm a perfect guy, yeah, baby, yeah. I'm not. You know, I
gonnamay have temptations. If I find the temptation worth fulfilling, I'm gonna fulfill my temptation. If that ends up getting me in trouble in time, you know, I'll deal with it then. But right now I'm not married, and I'm 28 years old, and I'm gonna enjoy my life."
This is the first I've heard an athlete so bluntly address infidelity: many get married while still playing sports, then get back out on the road, away from the comfort of their home and families, and find temptation too hard to ignore.
Being unfaithful is rarely justifiable, but at the same time, everyday people have no clue the kind of temptation that celebrities and athletes deal with on a daily basis. While athletes are certainly not defending Woods' behavior, most are going to be very empathetic.
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