Toxic Athletes and Coaches

This is not about doping; this is about those athletes and coaches that because of their behavior or attitude can kill a team or an organization. I was inspired to write this by reading Seth Godin’s post yesterday on toxic employees. Much of what we have been reading about in the sport pages the past few weeks has been about toxic athletes. They are athletes whose talent fools us, we tolerate aberrant or deviant behavior, even destructive behavior because they are so talented, and they will help us win. I have always called them “coach killers’ because these are the type of athletes that will get you fired. They in essence “over promise” and under deliver. They always show just enough flashes of brilliance to keep fooling everyone, especially rich owners, but if you have to live and work with that athlete everyday you know what a drain they are on the coaches and team. Sometimes the press really loves these guys because the “are great in the locker room” when in essence they are a cancer. I know one player who is a major league manager now who fit this modus operandi, he actually kept his team from winning as a player, but the press and owner loved him.

I also feel you have toxic coaches, management personnel and even athletic trainers. These people through their negativity or their inability to be part of the team drain the team. I have worked for two toxic team owners in my career and that is not fun. We need a sport Environmental Protection Agency to put these people and their toxic behavior in a toxic waste dump. Recognize toxic behavior and weed it out now or it will fester and grow like a virulent cancer.