Image suits up, too
By Larry Weisman, USA TODAY
Date in print: Mon., November. 28th, 2002, USA Today

As far as Andre Davis is concerned, a tie is like kissing your public. The Cleveland Browns rookie receiver always makes sure his shirt is on and tie nattily knotted when he addresses the media after games. But he's not just being polite. He's got a bigger plan.

"Anytime you have the opportunity to speak to the media and get on TV, I think you want to let people know what kind of person you are, that you take the game seriously and you take yourself seriously," says Davis, his eye already on a future in real estate. "You never know who's watching."

Davis, 23, is part of a younger generation of NFL players who want to use their time in the spotlight as a launching pad for other ventures. They see media exposure as a way of cultivating an image, and they'll put extra effort in their dress, composure and mannerisms to do it.

Davis took a course in public speaking at Virginia Tech.

His former teammate there, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, spent two days during the offseason training with consultants who emphasize poise and thoughtfulness.

Although these athletes came of age in an era of non-stop television and sports idolatry, that's no guarantee of comfort or ease when facing cameras and microphones, says Greg Angel, who heads the sports operations of Los Angeles-based Pygmalion.

His company worked with Vick on his presentation skills.

"Based on the public's perception, most athletes don't come across very well," Angel says. "When we tell people what we do, they say, 'Thank God.' I can't think of anybody who has ever said to me, 'I don't think that's a very good idea because they're doing it so well.' "

The simple gestures and verbal tics that occur in normal conversation translate poorly when they're amplified electronically. Squinting, lip-licking, slumping posture, a smattering of "ums" and "uhs" might not matter when hanging with friends, but the camera doesn't lie. And the truths it tells can hurt.

"Whenever you view yourself on film, you're horrified," San Francisco 49ers general manager Terry Donahue says.

That's one reason he's a believer in media training for sports administrators and athletes alike. He started working with Pygmalion when he left coaching (and UCLA) for CBS' college football booth.

He was amazed when he discovered how little he knew about putting himself in the best possible light.

"It was like Speech 101 that I never attended when I was in college," Donahue says. "It's all about your presentation, how you look, how you stand, how you position yourself, what kind of image you present in coming across to others, what you should try to avoid doing, what you should try to do."

Hard to believe adult folks need such tutoring?

Think about the pressures of public speaking, the glaring lights of TV cameras, the rapid-fire questions that come in the wake of an emotional game or after a critical mistake. Consider the shy, the inarticulate, the people who shrink from such situations, being totally exposed by reporters they already deem hostile.

"In corporate America, in politics, it's an area where people look for help," Angel says. "The president has a speechwriter and a speech coach. It does take work. And some people are willing to be dedicated and do the work and some are not."

Falcons management enjoyed the presentation of Pygmalion founder Gary Hankins at the NFL's public relations meetings and the subsequent owners' meeting last March and thought Vick would benefit from the experience.

Vick, knowing how much attention he would garner in his first year as a starter, embraced the training enthusiastically. It was a lot like a meeting with coaches, including film breakdown.

Angel, Hankins and Vick looked at tapes of interviews, worked on the pacing of his speech, the use of fillers such as "you know" and his need to maintain eye contact.

"It wasn't so much what I was saying, it was the things I did when I was interviewing that I didn't like," Vick says.

Hankins emphasized limiting answers to three key points, organizing them mentally before answering, then being succinct and clear. That directedness, Hankins says, "gives people the perception you're intelligent, thoughtful and organized in your responses."

It's exactly what Vick says he wants.

"When I greet someone or meet someone at a school, I want them to say, 'Michael Vick is a professional and not just on the football field but in his personality and everything,' " Vick says.

Suzy Kolber, sideline reporter for ESPN's Sunday night games, sees this media consciousness creating a greater pool of players worth probing for their stories.

"I can't recall this season walking away from an interview and thinking, 'Wow, that was awful. He had nothing to say,' " Kolber says. "They're definitely conscious of the opportunity to be on TV."

Not all players play along. The good interviewees get a reputation for such. "We're always going to put on the guys who express themselves the best," Kolber says.

Which is fine for the ones who remain wary of involvement with the media. Some just like their privacy. Others believe they'll be tricked into saying things that can hurt them. Some just don't get it.

Some don't see their reticence as interfering with future options. ESPN's Sterling Sharpe shunned the media and immediately joined the cable network after his retirement.

"It all depends on the person and what they want to do with their life," Davis says. "Some guys just want to totally concentrate on football and leave it at that. Other guys have other plans. You have to make sure you put yourself in the best position possible to take advantage of the opportunities we have right now in the NFL (as a platform for) high-profile athletes.

"If you have to talk to a business in the offseason or when your career is done, if they had a chance to see you on TV, they might understand that you are somebody they can work with. They won't take you as a joke and think of you just as an athlete."

Trusting the camera, the microphone or the notebook can be a big leap for some players.

Donahue says players today are "more sensitive to the media. That doesn't mean they are better prepared to deal with it. Certain guys know how to be in the spotlight and enjoy and some are shy to it, and that was true 10 years ago. There are many, many athletes who cannot articulate their thoughts in a proper way or present their image in such a way to secure a marketing deal."

Nor do they want to.

"Things have changed so much, and I've been around since water. When I was a sportscaster, you could almost count the players as buddies because they trusted everyone and weren't afraid to chat with anyone," says Andrea Kirby, a sportscaster-turned-media coach. There weren't so many media and (the players) seemed to know what to expect. They were much more open, but there wasn't any reason not to be."

Kirby began working with sports teams in 1985 and works now with ESPN's jocks-turned-journalists. She says there's never been a strong understanding among the athletes of what the media's job is. The players also "are protected, to their detriment," by coaches and management, she says, fostering hostility to inquiries from the outside.

"They didn't understand the media's intent. Most of them assumed you only wanted controversy and nothing else," Kirby says. "And that if there was one bad guy in the media, they were all bad."

And yet the path to the world outside the game runs right through those bad old reporters. Learning to spar with them, to feed them a story, is a talent in its own right.

"You can take all of these skills out into the world. If you don't have them, you're not going to get hired for anything productive when you can't play the game anymore," Kirby says.

"Learning to take responsibility for yourself, learning how to look and talk to people in a way that says, 'I'm an adult and I understand what it's like in the world,' provides a better chance of getting a job with a good corporation."

Philadelphia cornerback Troy Vincent always makes sure his suit is on and his thoughts are in order before he turns to face the media assemblage after games. This has helped him make known his entrepreneurial dreams and the good works he has done for the south Jersey community.

New Orleans receiver Joe Horn sees that his jaunty outfits are buttoned and arranged with care before he answers questions. With Horn, the show is as good as the commentary he offers and he seems at ease mixing suits and metaphors that are colorful. The packaged presentation is important, Hankins says.

"If people like you, they will be persuaded by you," he says. "Sometimes the athletes' egos are so great they appear not to care whether people like them or not, and that really gets in the way of their careers in many cases. It's very important for them to get rid of the ego and be authentic and true to themselves.

"We ask them, how do you want to be perceived? We ask for half a dozen adjectives — caring, happy, smart, whatever the case might be. And then we continue to remind them of the perceptions."

There's a danger of sounding or looking artificial, of seeming to abandon the place of one's birth or the old neighborhood in pursuit of image and future riches.

But Vick says it's all a matter of perspective.

"I keep it real," he says. "I don't try to talk like anybody else. I speak from the heart and I speak the truth and I speak what I know."

top