This may not be popular in my hometown, where Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes admitted to flopping to get a referee’s call in the Division Championship win a week ago.
Mahomes was once described by his for former offensive coordinator as a “competitive prick.” That mentality has helped him lead the Chiefs to three Super Bowl championships and seven straight AFC Championship games. He is a transcendent player and is steadily making a case to be the best quarterback in NFL history.
To his credit and as a sign of his strong character, Mahomes said after the game he “probably shouldn’t have done that.”
His competitiveness compelled him to try to create any and every advantage. That seems a reasonable mindset for anyone who wants to succeed. But is it fair?
It calls into question where is the line for leaders in other walks of life including business, politics, etc. that borders on gaining every advantage to succeed and ethical or moral malfeasance?
That line has become more and more blurred, if not washed away in some circles.
For example, I believe strongly in capitalism and fair market solutions – the emphasis on fair. Is it fair for a pharmaceutical company to charge $1,200 for one-month’s supply of life-sustaining insulin that has a patent when it clearly makes a profit charging $30 a month after the patent runs out the next year? Is it fair for landlords to hike rents up 50-100% after a natural disaster that decreases supply and increases demand for shelter?
Is it fair to give immunity to past, and worse, future transgressions to politicians of any party at any level who are supposed to set examples as leaders. They should be held to the highest standards of behavior and accountability because they have the power to influence and impact thousands, if not millions of lives.
Standards have been deteriorating in our country and with each incremental decrease, the lower standard becomes normalized.
I’m glad Mahomes realized he had crossed the line and held himself accountable. I hope that those of us who have a competitive spirit and will expend every ounce of energy to achieve their aspirations still care about having the ethical or moral fiber to go about it the right way. And that we stand up for those who do and stand against those who don’t.
Mahomes was once described by his for former offensive coordinator as a “competitive prick.” That mentality has helped him lead the Chiefs to three Super Bowl championships and seven straight AFC Championship games. He is a transcendent player and is steadily making a case to be the best quarterback in NFL history.
To his credit and as a sign of his strong character, Mahomes said after the game he “probably shouldn’t have done that.”
His competitiveness compelled him to try to create any and every advantage. That seems a reasonable mindset for anyone who wants to succeed. But is it fair?
It calls into question where is the line for leaders in other walks of life including business, politics, etc. that borders on gaining every advantage to succeed and ethical or moral malfeasance?
That line has become more and more blurred, if not washed away in some circles.
For example, I believe strongly in capitalism and fair market solutions – the emphasis on fair. Is it fair for a pharmaceutical company to charge $1,200 for one-month’s supply of life-sustaining insulin that has a patent when it clearly makes a profit charging $30 a month after the patent runs out the next year? Is it fair for landlords to hike rents up 50-100% after a natural disaster that decreases supply and increases demand for shelter?
Is it fair to give immunity to past, and worse, future transgressions to politicians of any party at any level who are supposed to set examples as leaders. They should be held to the highest standards of behavior and accountability because they have the power to influence and impact thousands, if not millions of lives.
Standards have been deteriorating in our country and with each incremental decrease, the lower standard becomes normalized.
I’m glad Mahomes realized he had crossed the line and held himself accountable. I hope that those of us who have a competitive spirit and will expend every ounce of energy to achieve their aspirations still care about having the ethical or moral fiber to go about it the right way. And that we stand up for those who do and stand against those who don’t.
