Why most athletes are scum bags

The Seattle Times is doing a series of exposes on the 2000 Washington Husky team that won the Rose Bowl, despite the fact that it had some horrible human beings on their roster.

To Huskies fans a tragic hero, to the courts a wanted felon
Curtis Williams, a guy who consistently beat his wife (who, it enrages me to say, quite often denied that he had done so! Jesus christ!), and yet was given pass after pass by the athletic department.

Convicted of assault and accused of rape, star player received raft of second chances
Then we've got this guy, Jerramy Stevens, still alive, going to be playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next year, a "good man."

So.... why are most athletes scum bags? Because they've been pampered all their lives. They do something bad when they're young, that most "normal" people would get thrown in jail for, and they're given a free pass. Over and over again. So they don't grow as human beings, they dont' ever learn their lessons... then they get into the professional leagues, where they're making tons of money, and they believe the rules don't apply to them - because they never have before.

The athlete ultimately has to take responsibility for his (or her) own actions, but a lot of the blame has to go to all his or her enablers over the years...