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Jay Mariotti

Quitting Would Damage Phelps' Legacy

Posted Feb 06, 2009 1:10AM By Jay Mariotti (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Back Porch

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So now he's threatening to seek an escape hatch, not compete in the 2012 Olympics -- you know, take his Speedo LZR Racer trunks and 14 gold medals and swim home. That would be a regrettable and rather cowardly backstroke by Michael Phelps, who finds himself at an unexpected crossroads in his charmed life and needs to make a mature decision to counter his reckless immaturity.

Thursday night, he was punished by the very country he made so proud in Beijing, suspended from competition for three months by USA Swimming. It's a bombshell decision by the sport's governing body, certain to furiously stoke the ongoing arguments about a national sports hero and whether he should be allowed to smoke marijuana in his downtime. In my mind, this is precisely the right call by the federation, necessary after Phelps embraced the idea of being a role model for children only to let them down by leaning into a bong at a college house party and leaving us with a disappointing image.

Mr. America has soiled himself, making us wonder if he has become another burned-out stoner who can't control his partying. Maybe you and I plunged into the same sort of activities in our early 20s, but none of us was Sportsman of the Year and the most acclaimed Olympian ever. If he cares about children as much as he claims, Phelps will understand and learn from sanctions that also include a stoppage of financial support by USA Swimming. He can go one of two ways, either turning a negative into a positive or letting the negative bury him by retiring from competition. Whether he realizes it or not, the incident's effect on his ultimate legacy hangs in the balance.

"This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we did decide to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero," the federation said in a statement. "Michael has voluntarily accepted this reprimand and has committed to earn back our trust."

But has he?

Just a day earlier, in an interview with his hometown Baltimore Sun, Phelps suggested that the post-China scrutiny on his life has been too much to bear -- and that he might bypass the London Games because of it. "This is a decision of mine that I'm not going to make today and I'm not going to make tomorrow," Phelps said. "It's going to require a lot of time and energy and a lot of thinking for myself -- but also talking to Bob (Bowman, his coach) and talking to my family and just deciding what I want to do.

"Yeah, there are still goals that I have in the pool, 100 percent. But I'm not going to let anything stand in my way. If I decide to walk away, I'll decide to walk away on my own terms. If it's now, if it's four years, who knows. But it is something I need to think about and decide what I want to do."

To Phelps' credit, he apologized quickly and didn't try to cover up the bong photo, which inevitably was published by a sleazy London tabloid. He also says he doesn't smoke marijuana regularly, telling the Sun, "This was stupid, and I know this won't happen again. It's obviously bad judgment, and it's something I'm not proud of at all. I will say that with the mistakes that I've made in my life, I've learned from them. Every one of them. And I've become a better person. That's what I plan to do from here. It's definitely not what I wanted, and it's clearly not what my mom wanted."

Then why run away from 2012? The last time Phelps slipped up, with a drunk-driving arrest following his Athens medal haul in 2004, he vowed to overcome it by focusing on his swimming. But now he has a dope issue, too, which means he might have a problem much larger than a guy getting high one night at the University of South Carolina. What he must do, actually, is embrace swimming like never before, return to serious training and eye London with the same intensity and commitment that he eyed Beijing.

"It makes me happy," Phelps said of being back in the pool, where he was interviewed. "It's a part of me I've always had, and I've always been happy doing it. I like getting up in the morning and having something to do. On Monday, we get back to two-a-day (practices), and I'm looking forward to that. I feel more comfortable here. This is my home."

That way, he can reconnect with a nation of fans who are more than willing to forgive him if he's sincere about getting serious. "I think this is like the DUI, in that it's something I can talk more about and make sure that nobody makes the same mistakes I made," he said. "What I've gone through in the last week, no one wants to go through."

The latest fallout came from Kellogg Co., which announced Thursday that it was dumping Phelps as a spokesman after plastering him across its Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes boxes after the Olympics. His bong behavior, the company said, "is not consistent with the image of Kellogg." Curiously, other sponsors were eager to support him, including Visa, Speedo and watchmaker Omega. That reflects the divided opinion surrounding Phelps, who also is backed by Dara Torres, the 41-year-old comeback star who won a silver medal in Beijing. "I see him as a kid trying to grow up in the most intense spotlight known to any athlete. He has apologized, and what else can he do?" she told the Associated Press. "The thing I hope is that people realize Michael is still a person and not just a swimming hero.

"He didn't let the USA down at the Games, so we shouldn't let him down. Knowing Michael the way I do, I guarantee you it's going to make him want to do well. All this is going to do is light a fire under him."

I hope she's right. It was encouraging to hear Drew Johnson, an agent for Phelps, come out late in the night and say of the suspension, "Michael accepts these decisions and understands their point of view. He feels bad he let anyone down. He's also encouraged by the thousands of comments he's received from his fans and the support from his many sponsors. He intends to work hard to regain everyone's trust." We're also hearing the same from Bowman, his most trusted advisor.

But until we hear again from Phelps, who knows what he's thinking and where he might be going?

He complained about paparazzi dogging him all week, waking him up at his Baltimore home and tailing him when he drives to the pool. "I've been waking up to guys yelling into megaphones outside my window at 7 o'clock in the morning," he told the Sun. "I've been through just about everything you can go through. I've had paparazzi people following me from my house to my mom's house. People knocking on the door. It's crazy." Since Beijing, his doings have been fodder for TMZ.com and other Internet sites, which have shown him on the party scene, hanging out with various women and enjoying life. There's nothing wrong with any of that until he goes bong-hit on us. That leaves him vulnerable to trouble, such as the county sheriff in South Carolina who wants to make a name for himself and possibly press charges against Phelps. Never mind the double standard: If the sheriff, Leon Lott, busted every kid who smoked pot at the university, there wouldn't be much of a student enrollment. Because the smoker was Michael Phelps, it opens the door to an avalanche of hassles.

He'll be tempted, no doubt, to listen to those who say the suspension is unfair -- and rebel. Most everyone in the U.S. swim community is rushing to his defense, including gold medalist Ryan Lochte. "There are always people you can't trust," Phelps said. "During the whole thing, I've really been able to see who my friends are, who my family are, and who really loves and supports me. They've stood by my side, from the countless text messages, phone messages, e-mails -- those are your friends. All those people who are around during the good times? Those aren't your friends."

But sometimes, the best friends in troubled times are those unafraid to state the truth. And the truth about Phelps is, he let his country down when a little discretion could have gone a long way. "Once we're allowed to call ourselves U.S. Olympic athletes, there are certain guidelines and protocols that go along with that," said the legendary U.S. speedskater, Apolo Anton Ohno. "I think it's important to represent what you'd like your mom to see or what you'd like little kids to see. It's important to be aware of your surroundings and the choices you make."

The most obvious choice for Michael Phelps is to dive into that pool and keep swimming for three years, all the way to London. That way, you teach the children well about correcting a mistake. To run from it would be legacy suicide.

Tags: michael+phelps, MichaelPhelps

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Jay Mariotti

Jay MariottiJay Mariotti is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse.com. He is a daily panelist on ESPN's sports-debate show, "Around The Horn,'' seen Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. ET. Mariotti spent 17 years as a lead sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and has covered every major sporting event -- national and worldwide -- on multiple occasions.