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I Need a 'Down-to-Earth' Guy

I was watching clips on ESPN of this past Sunday's NFL games. I saw a clip of Cincinnati Bengal's wide receiver formerly known as Chad Johnson. He legally had his name changed to Chad Ochocinco, to go with his jersey number (85). Now, I am not a hater when it comes to pro athletes and how they display their enthusiasm. But...

I think that all pro athletes should be given a 'down-to-earth' guy when they enter pro sports. This 'down-to-earth' guy would be their partner in life, to ensure that they don't do or say things that would be deemed to be stupid by the rest of us living in reality. In case you're wondering, changing your name legally to reflect your jersey number, in Spanish mind you, would be something that the 'down-to-earth' guy would catch.

This isn't the worst thing a pro athlete could do, but if they all had a 'down-to-earth' guy, they would be protected from some of the things they do that are out of touch with reality. The sad fact is that instead of a 'down-to-earth' guy, what pro athletes have are fans who worship and adore them. So I imagine Chad 'Ochocinco' Johnson running the idea by a friend.

Chad: I'm gonna change my name from Johnson to Ochocinco. What do you think?
Friend: (Laughs) That would be....awesome.

Because really, who wants to tell your superstar friend that they just came up with a dumb idea? But there is a problem when all we hear from our friends is what we want to hear. I actually believe this problem extends to more people than just pro athletes. I think it is a dilemma for all of us. We each have a tendency to surround ourselves with people who will tell us that we are great at what we do and very seldom do they offer critical encouragement.

Maybe what we all need is a 'down-to-earth' guy.
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