The Good Men Project’s Sports Editors are looking for your stories about athletes who are more than athletes.
Unlike so many things in this world, The Good Men Project is exactly what its title says it is. It is a project to help us all—editors, contributors, and readers alike—to define what it means to be a good man in the 21st century.
As it plays such an outsized role in the masculine life, sports is necessarily part of the conversation. The lens through which we explore sports is a societal one. What do sports tell us about masculinity? What do the sports we watch say about us as fans? How do sports fit into a well-roundedness appropriate for a modern male? What, if any, role do sports have to play in making our society more equitable?
To that end, the Sports editors at The Good Men Project are issuing a Call for Submissions for features and stories about what we’re calling Renaissance athletes, those who excelled both on the field and off.
Whatever the arena outside the arena, politics (Bill Bradley, Kevin Johnson or Manny Pacquiao), writing (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), acting (Jason Lee), philanthropy (Andre Agassi), business (Oscar De La Hoya, Vinnie Johnson or Tony Hawk), or any combination thereof (like Dave Bing, who was a successful businessman before running to be Mayor of Detroit in an effort to save a city he loves, or Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, as almost everyone knows, parlayed his bodybuilding career into an acting career and that into two terms as California’s governor), we want to hear about the athletes who understood that the sport they played was only one aspect of themselves.
And it doesn’t need to be a famous athlete. Do you know a high school or collegiate athlete who has likewise done outstanding things away from the field, court, or ice? We want to hear their stories as well.
Sports have an important role to play in our society, in helping to define what it is to be a man, in forming the characters of the children who participate in them. But that doesn’t happen automatically. We need role models—both famous and not—to show us that to be an athlete doesn’t mean you are only that.
Submissions should be a minimum of 750 words. There is no maximum length. Submissions can be sent to Liam Day at [email protected]. Please use “Renaissance Athlete Submission” in the subject line.
Photo: Bebeto Matthews, AP
Some guys have never had an interest in sports. That fact alone doesn’t mean they’re necessarily less “masculine” than others. I have no problem with guys who find self-confidence by participating in sports. I took up bodybuilding late in life, and I’ve appreciated the self-confidence I’ve gained as a result. But defining masculinity for all guys (even non-athletes) in terms of athletic prowess is an exercise in superficiality, not to mention bigotry. Sports are not so important that they must be imposed upon those of us who have no interest in them.