I was on the phone with an old college teammate last week. He's done pretty well for himself, and now runs an entire trading floor for a large investment firm in New York.
He was describing to me the trouble he sometimes has squaring up the need to "act as if" in certain situations; articulating the mix of comedy, tragedy and reality with which he has to embrace the necessity of "acting as if" to subordinates who look to him for advice, and to superiors to whom he must project his value come bonus-time; spending a good bit of metacognitive time honing his self-awareness of what is still an "act" and what has become his (new) reality.
Outside of sports, the notion that one should "act as if" connotes a meaning that is equal parts "fake it 'til you make it" and some version of a principle of the "law of attraction" advanced by the book "The Secret," suggesting that you put upon airs and exude (a false sense of) confidence in a manner intending to both strong-arm and invite success.
I only made it about three-pages into "The Secret" before tossing it aside and dismissing it as kitschy, Oprah-endorsed, self-help propaganda; and, I'm notoriously honest to a fault (and some would say, my own worst enemy) when it comes to acknowledging my own strengths, weaknesses and limitations. Which is to say, I've never embraced the false bravado'd version of "act as if."
EA Sports recently put Barry Sanders on the cover of its 25th Anniversary Edition of its Madden NFL Football video game (which comes complete with a free subscription to a tablet- and mobile device-friendly version of DIRECTV's NFL Sunday Ticket).
Barry Sanders epitomized "acting as if." That is to say, when Barry Sanders scored a touchdown he "acted as if" he'd done it before; "acting as if" he'd been in the end-zone before; and, "acting as if" he'd be there again. Sanders would cross the goal-line, often untouched, simply (emphasis added) drop the ball, without any celebration or dramatic antics, and jog over to the sideline to await his team's next offensive series and next chance to get into the end zone. All of which makes seeing Sanders appearance in ads for the video game and its related strategic marketing partners seem a bit like a fish out of water.
My first football memory as a kid is of the Super Bowl shuffling Chicago Bears. I prefer teams with tradition and players with high character, which is why, while most were drawn to the quirky caricature that was Chicago's Jim McMahon, my favorite player was Walter Payton because Payton "acted as if" in the end zone, and on and off the field.
Last week, University of Georgia receiver Malcom Mitchell tore his ACL celebrating a touchdown. Adding idiocy to injury - Mitchell was injured while celebrating a teammate's touchdown. Mitchell is, or was, projected to be selected in the 2014 NFL draft. Now, for no reason other than failing to "act as if" (and a little dumb luck), his football future is in jeopardy.
Earlier that day, the Kanye West of college football, Johnny Manziel, had the audacity, only minutes removed from his tragically laughable half-game suspension, to gesture the sign-language equivalent of signing an autograph for an opposing player; abhorrently single-handedly embodying a complete failure to "act as if" in the Payton- and Sanders-esque versions of sports vernacular.
In 1999, the NFL named its Man of the Year Award after Walter Payton. The Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award is presented annually to the NFL player who best exemplifies a dedication to volunteerism, charity and community involvement. Maybe the American Osteopathic Board of Proctology can name an annual award after Johnny Manziel; with Preparation H serving as the presenting sponsor.
Sports are a microcosm for society; they are a personification of all that is and can be both good and bad about the values and character of people, individually and collectively.
At their best, athletes can be exemplars of "acting as if" insofar as the term connotes a sense of winning and succeeding with class and dignity. Unfortunately, and as has become more commonplace, athletes seem to be caricatures "acting as if" as false-bravado, selfishness, in and with blatant disregard for the rules.
Despite Charles Barkley's best efforts to deflect the notion; athletes are role models to kids. It's time all athletes started to "act as if" more in the Walter Payton Man of the Year sense, and less in the Johnny Manziel as the object of observation of proctologists sense.
