monkey's rant, are NFL players role models?

I posted this after commenting on a previous thread about Terrell Owens, so he figures prominently into this rant. If you already read it in the comments, sorry, skip it or read it again. Either way I would love some feedback and to hear what you guys have to say, I know this isn't a Seahawk specific thing but it is an NFL and a football thing, and I think it is an important topic in todays society.

ROLE MODEL: A person who serves as a model in a particular behavioral or social role for another person to emulate. A person whose behavior in a particular role is imitated by others. (NOTE: In this definition, there is no mention of intent or good or bad behavior, just behavior which is emulated)

It has long been my contention that to say that athletes aren't role models is simply disingenuous.
Each team in each league in every sport, has gone out of it's way to market their athletes, as just that... role models.
Way back in the day, the media used to actually cover for the star athletes misbehavior, because teams didn't want the images of their athletes tarnished, because they wanted their athletes to be thought of as role models. Why? Because it sells.
Teams market their athletes, not the game itself. They sell jerseys with their star players numbers on it.
During the commercials on T.V. for the NFL they say, watch Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons, take on Brian Urlacher and the Chicago Bears.
They don't say watch the strategy unfold as coach Holmgren matches wits with coach Parcells. They don't even say watch the breathtaking catches and bone jarring tackles. They aren't selling the game itself, and they certainly aren't selling the X's and O's of the game, they are selling their heros, their media creations, their role models.

Think about it, as a kid, who did you pretend to be when you went out to recess?
Did you pretend to be your teacher, or your dad, or the president, or some other person that we say today should be kids role models?
Nope, you pretended to be Steve Largent or Jim Zorn or Kenny Easley.
Perhaps in a perfect society we would all have our pastor or priest or our teachers or parents or even some brainy N.A.S.A. engineer as role models, but that isn't the way things really are. Perhaps it should be that way...but it isn't.
The truth is, whether these athletes want to be role models or not is a moot point, they are because they are marketed to be, and they are because kids and adults alike want them to be and make them into role models.
Althletes don't have the choice of whether or not to be role models, they are role models like it or not.
What they do have a choice in, is whether they are good or bad role models.
As long as kids emulate them and buy their jerseys and day dream about being them or being like them, they are role models, but whether they are good or bad ones, is up to them.
I have always found it laughable when people say that just because so and so made some bad choices, it doesn't make him a bad person! That's truly hysterical, it's like saying that just because so and so joined the Army and wears an Army uniform, doesn't mean he is a soldier.
What makes a person good or bad is his or her decisions! The truest definition of a bad person, is one who while knowing right from wrong, chooses to do wrong.
In the case of T.O. one can say that what he did isn't evil... true I suppose, but it was wrong, and he knew it.
Everyone knows that it is unsportsmanlike to talk badly about your teammates, no matter what the truth is. Everyone knows that throwing a teammate under the bus the way T.O. did to Jeff Garcia and then Donovan McNabb is outside the code of sportsmanship, if not flat out a$$holish.
So please don't tell me that just because T.O. did a bunch of stupid things, that doesn't make him a bad guy; yes he is, that's exactly what bad guys are. Bad guys are ones who do stupid things and make bad decisions, knowing full well the difference between good and bad. T.O. knew what he was doing, but he is selfish and didn't care. He felt slighted so he wanted to hurt his teammate. And remeber, this isn't the first time, he has a long history of doing these types of things, because he is selfish.
Yes selfish people are bad people, that's exactly what bad people are.
The best definition of evil is self-centeredness, or do what thou wilt. Evil people don't think of themselves as evil usually, they just do what makes them feel good at the time with little or no thought for the concerns of others. They do what they want because they want to; and to hell with the consequences. That is T.O. to a tee.

In a sense we are all role models to someone, and of course we all make bad decisions, but the difference is that professional athletes, choose to become involved in an edeavor were their behavior on and off the field is put under a microscope each and every day. They know this going into it. It comes with the millions of dollars they make, and the fame they wallow in. Being a role model is the cost of being a professional athelte.

If a person doesn't want to be a role model then they should not become a professional athlete. But once they are profesional athletes, and by default, role models; it is up to them to decide what type of role models they will be.
Trent Dilfer is a good role model, T.O. is a bad role model, because T.O. is a selfish person, and selfish people are intrinsically bad people.
You don't have to like it or even agree, but that's just the way things are, that's just the truth.