The history of sports is filled with triumphant moments, including walk-offs, clutch plays and buzzer-beaters. Certain plays have been etched into the sands of time and can define an era. One thing that has also been around since the dawn of mankind that has tainted and taken away from the greatness of sports is cheating. It is universal, whether it is sneaking answers on a small test in the seventh grade or hiding trash under the bed to make mothers think rooms are clean. However, it is unfortunate and true that no matter the effort anyone puts forward, cheating will always be a part of society.
With the New England Patriots winning their fourth Super Bowl since the turn of the century, they are in the conversation to be one of the most dominant associations in the history of the NFL. Among all the hype leading up to the most recent Super Bowl, most of the headlines were not about the game, but about whether or not the Patriots deflated their footballs in the NFC championship game to make them easier to catch. The debacle is now known as “Deflategate,” and had it been proven they did in fact deflate their footballs, the title of “cheaters” would have stuck with the historically great team for the rest of time. Although it was never proven the Patriots cheated to gain an advantage, the effects of how devastating a different result would have been are clear.
Throughout the world of sports there have been cases in which the accused were not so lucky. Steroids have been the centerpiece of cheating for a long time. The cycling community was shocked in October 2012 when seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, was accused of not only using performance enhancing drugs, but also bullying teammates into doing the same. The greatest cycler in the world and an all-time great athlete, Armstrong will always be remembered for doping. This came as a shock to many, due to the fact that, Armstrong was more popular for his “LiveStrong” foundation than his heroics on the bicycle. He will go down in history as a cheater and his greatness will be tainted by performance enhancing drugs forever.
Cheating is just too tempting sometimes. For some athletes the benefits of doping or other forms of cheating to get ahead greatly outweigh the risks. It is unfortunate that no matter how strict of regulations any organization puts on their members, cheating will never go away. This puts an innate responsibility on athletes to do the right thing, and athletes at all levels should never lose sight of this. They should seriously consider how they want to be remembered and being forever known or suspected as a cheater is probably not the legacy they want.
