Brian Bosworth: The Athlete

                     The 'Boz' became a household name when Brian Bosworth erupted in the media as a celebrity linebacker for the University of Oklahoma football team in the 1980s. His career emerged from his high school successes as an athlete and his television ready personality. He was the first college athlete to openly and proudly criticize the NCAA by wearing a t-shirt to the 1987 orange bowl with the phrase 'National Communists Against Athletes" written across it. Despite his brash behavior and not-so-great publicity, the Boz was adored by his fans. He sported funky hairstyles, each game a different color and cut, and his fans would tell their barbers to give them the Boz. All of this publicity Bosworth obtained created a different breed of athlete: cocky, conceited, untouchable. The media would cling to him, waiting to see what he said next. Brian changed the way the media viewed an athlete. 

                     ESPN, in an article on the celebrity stated he was a "made-for-TV crazy linebacker from the Oklahoma Sooners with a 1980s "high punk" (his words) hairstyle and a bulletin board mouth"(Brian and the Boz.") , these characteristics are what made him a star. Before the Boz emerged into the world of sports media there was never an athlete quite so captivating; but after the Boz created this big dog persona, many athletes followed in suit.  "Bosworth transformed into a master of creating the success and attention he desired",("The Brian Bosworth Factor.") in this vast process he created a slew of fans, all of which whom followed his career and fought to be at every game. Was it his cockiness? The I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude? Whatever it was, it didn't click well with most college officials, except for his coach. Barry Switzer who at the time was the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners who recruited the Boz in the 80s after viewing his standout performances in his highschool career. Because Bosworth had quite the horrible relationship with his father, Switzer served as a major influence in his chapter of collegiate life. The two were close and although Barry didn’t quite agree the the Boz’s behavior, he helped facilitate the athlete to prove his performance could run to fruition. The relationship these two had is a lot like what we see today in the NFL. The coach to "son" relationship helps further the career of the athlete although he may have made serious mistakes, the coach is willing to allow him to play regardless of whatever bad decisions were made. Just as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots clearly have been using their relationship to dig Brady out of his mistakes made in the Deflategate trial to ensure his ability to play. This caused waves of publicity, both good and bad, and struck the media like a lightning bolt. Always the athletes ability to perform over the athletes ability to use ethical decision making skills.

                     Bosworth and his revolution of the athlete in the media is why we have players like the Patriots Tom Brady on the front page. Sports news and scandals are broadcasted and sought after quicker than moral principles  should allow considering all of the other happenings in the world. Tom Brady is the American anti-hero, just as the Boz proved to be. Both awesome athletes, both attract the media so positively, both attract the media so negatively. Scandals like deflategate  and the Boz’s t-shirt sale (producing Boz slandering t-shirts, selling them to Broncos fans and collecting the profit)  created a buzz so big that people are hearing updates before they know the pope is coming for a visit. Without the Boz creating a foundation to pave the path for a huge spike in sports media, we wouldn’t have the sports celebrities (or gods) that we do today.

Works Cited
            Brian and the Boz. Dir. Thaddeus D. Matula. Film.

           "The Brian Bosworth Factor." Capitalist Creations. Web. 25 Sept. 2015. <http://capitalistcreations.com/the-brian-bosworth-factor/>.