Brendon is also known for a string of off-field antics including assaulting a barman, urinating in public, inappropriate and drunken behaviour during a live TV broadcast, allegedly flashing a woman, and other behaviour that led to being arrested on New Year's Eve this year for being a public nuisance. In fact, after 11 years at the Carlton Football Club, off-field antics was cited as the reason for trading Fevola for another player.
It is fair to say that controversy surrounds Brendan Fevola. Yet for years Brendan Fevola was idolised by many. I find the thought of this quite disturbing.
What do people look for in a hero? Too often a hero label is given to someone because of their technical skills or their looks. Singers, sports stars, and models, are often idolised because of their achievements based on their specialised technical skills and abilities. But does someone's outstanding technical skills, or their looks, or their luck (were they just in the right place at the right time?) make them a worthy hero? I don't think so.
I believe character and values should absolutely be at the top of any criteria list, and yet all too often it isn't. Jesus teachings often involved lessons about the type of character or qualities we should each have. If a hero is someone you look up to and aspire to be like shouldn't they encompass all the qualities of an upstanding community citizen, the exact qualities Jesus taught of: integrity, respect for others, honesty, kindness, humility, and compassion? We miss out on understanding the true character of a person when we base our understanding of them on only one area of their life, like their technical skills and abilities.
Decisions we make day-to-day, determine the person we become in years to come. With this in mind, great thought should be put into selecting any hero (certainly much more than the average person currently spends!). While there is an endless stream of talented sport stars, singers, models and other celebrities to choose a hero from, a deeper understanding of any potential heroes character should be gained before aspiring to be 'just like them'. If we're not careful, the hero we choose to follow today could turn out to not be the 'perfect' person we thought them to be.