A FEW athletes in this country could use a heart-to-heart with Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt or even Spiderman's wise uncle Ben.
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For all three made memorable remarks about responsibility being the price of greatness.
And to me, responsibility has been in short supply both on and off the pitch.
The year is barely two months old and we've seen allegations of drug trafficking among top-level Queensland footballers, champion cricketers yelling at foreign opponents to "speak English", and national sporting icons posing for happy snaps with dead African wildlife.
Just a few recent examples where questionable individual decisions have sent clubs, sponsors, agents, and administrators into damage control.
But the worst thing about misbehaving stars?
Parents having to explain idiotic circumstances to their disappointed kids.
The alleged supply of cocaine reported by the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission last week was absolutely astonishing.
Astonishing in the alleged depth of the problem and astonishing that the accused were no small-time players: Reds rugby star Karmichael Hunt, Gold Coast Titans Greg Bird, Dave Taylor, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Beau Falloon and Jamie Dowling, as well as former rugby league greats Jason Smith and Matt Seers.
Sure, they're all due their day in court.
But I bet a lot of replica jerseys will stay on the coathanger long after this saga is through.
Likewise with South Sydney footballers John Sutton and Luke Burgess, whose drunken late-night misdemeanours in the USA last year are set to be re-investigated by the NRL, despite their alleged assault victim dropping charges.
To the cricket, and former Australian fast bowlers Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee might have been partaking in a completely legal recreational pursuit , but seeing photos of them smiling with the corpses of not-long-dead animals left a bad taste in the mouth.
Also unappetising was David Warner's aggressive request for an Indian opponent to drop their native Hindi during a one-dayer in January.
My argument is not whether or not we should put elite athletes on a pedestal.
That is always going to happen in a country where sport reigns supreme.
In fact, there is a lot to admire about high-performing athletes.
Those at the peak of their powers have a disciplined training regime, and have obviously worked incredibly hard and sacrificed much from a young age to get to where they are.
Their impressive physical feats, concentration, and mental strength encourage young people to get involved in sport, and foster camaraderie among supporters.
But ultimately they are paid a bucketload of money for what they do, and they are idolised by a lot of impressionable young people.
They don't get to choose whether or not they are role models.
That decision has already been made and it is up to them to do the right thing by their status and influence.