America's unhealthy reverence for its sporting heroes

In the week that Derek Jeter plays his final home series for the New York Yankees, it is difficult to ignore the retirement of one of the City's favourite sons.

I'll leave it to those with a greater understanding and appreciation of baseball to do justice to his record-breaking career, but the following pictures of a father's reaction to his son throwing back a foul ball hit by Derek Jeter sums up New York's affection for the shortstop pretty well:

http://abc7chicago.com/sports/video-young-fan-throws-jeter-baseball-back-on-field/319060/

Even my Mets-supporting flatmate lamented the fact that his "childhood is over" as a result of Jeter's departure from the game. In that respect, I guess the only comparable figure in England in recent years is David Beckham, whose retirement was met with universal devastation among people my age back home.

Whilst such a respected career is quite rightly celebrated city-wide, it brought to my attention the sad reality that Jeter's is one that's uniquely blemish-free in American sport. The worst 'dirt' that can be found on him is a late night back in 2003 and some income tax controversy around the same time - but even Gary Barlow's been involved with that.

Of course, tax evasion isn't something to be taken lightly but it is small change compared to a lot of the big controversies American sport stars have been associated with in recent years. In the short time I've been in the United States, it feels as though there's barely been a sports star mentioned that hasn't committed or at least been accused of some sort of felony.

Perhaps most notorious of all is the case of football player OJ Simpson, whose ill-fated attempt to evade capture and subsequent murder trial made international news twenty years ago. To list all of his NFL colleagues that have done jail time would take me into next week, but the fact that Bleacher Report were able to put together an 'All-Prison Team' back in 2012 speaks volumes.

More recently, Kobe Bryant (another apparently universally-renowned figure who my flatmates have "grown up with") was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel employee in 2003. Despite a public mea culpa, Bryant inexplicably walked away with his reputation virtually unscathed and only temporary damage done to his bank balance.

(ESPN)

Even today the news is full of stories in this vein, with the NFL facing controversy in recent months surrounding stars such as Adrian Peterson (who faces accusations of child abuse after apparently whipping his four-year-old son) and Ray Rice, who was videoed dragging his unconscious wife out of an elevator earlier this year.

The debate as to why run-ins with the law are disproportionately high amongst American sports stars is one to be had amongst those more qualified than I, but whether or not the glorification of athletes throughout schooling has anything to do with it is an idea that must have been discussed.

Rather, what's surprising to me is the treatment the aforementioned characters have got in the US press. I always thought that the English could be a little lenient on its stars - dreadful characters such as Joey Barton and Stan Collymore have been made millionaires by sport despite their many misdemeanours.

But compared to their counter-parts this side of the Atlantic, the English press can be seen to enjoy bringing a sports star to their knees amid controversy - and that's something we should probably be thankful for. There's a lot to be said for the idea that John Terry would still be England captain today were it not for the media, whilst Luis Suarez's career in this country ended after a long and bumpy relationship with the press.

(nationalturk.com)

In the States, however, there appears to be a worrying reluctance to blame the culprits themselves for their actions; in many cases, they are put on pedestals above criticism and even above the law.

Of course, there have been few offering excuses for the likes of Ray Rice, but the fact that ESPN have spent the last week laying into NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (here and here) whilst there's a chance Rice may return to action this season is, in my view, ignoring the crux of the issue.

Even more deplorably, the Baltimore Ravens tweeted after the video emerged that Rice's wife "deeply regrets the part she played" in her husband knocking her unconscious.

To see factions of a national press react in this way is ridiculous to me. But then the fact that the NFL has to have specific sanctions laid out for players that assault their wives and girlfriends is testament to the fact that things are different over here.

So whilst it is quite right that Americans celebrate the career of Derek Jeter this week, it should not be done without recognising the sad rarity of being able to toast the retirement of a sportsman who bows out without the blemish of a criminal record.