With free agency coming up for the NFL, and the baseball season getting ready to start spring training, I am reminded of the strike a few years ago.

It’s not just the strike, but all the things that have happened in recent sports history that have caused sports fans to lose some respect for professional athletes and coaches.

There are many incidents that have left me wondering where professional sports is headed.

There is the ever-present trouble with the police in Dallas; with Michael Irving being arrested, and suspended for eight games.

Then there was the Roberto Alomar incident. The number of people who lost respect for him after he spit in an umpire’s face was huge.

Let’s not forget Dennis Rodman, and his head-butting referee, camera man kicking, dress-wearing self.

While we are talking about the NBA, let’s discuss the complaint that the rookies are coming into the league and acting like punks.

It has been said that rookies such as Allen Iverson, have a lack of respect for the veterans of the league.

Or, how about the Boston College football players who not only placed illegal bets on a game, but bet against their own team?

Many people are asking what the problem is for all these athletes. I’ll tell you what the problem is.

Many athletes these days are starting to believe they are bigger than the sports they play.

It seems like these athletes think a shoe contract and millions of fans means you aren’t responsible for your actions outside of getting all the money you can.

Who cares if you get arrested for drug use?

Who cares if your holding out for another 10 million in your contract causes some players to be cut and makes the team weaker?

As long as you are getting paid, that is the most important thing right?

Wrong, dead wrong. The fans are the ones who care. The people who actually have a love of the game and not the money.

These athletes have the lofty idea that if it weren’t for them, the game would not go on. Deflate that hot air balloon of an ego.

They must realize that without the game, they would not exist in any capacity remotely close to the statuses they have as professional athletes.

It is time for the professional athletes of the world to understand that it is their respective sports that make their luxurious lives possible. Think about it.

They get paid to play a sport. They are worshiped by millions, and they live the lives of kings.

It is time that professional athletes gain a greater respect for the sports they play and the fans who support them.

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Brandon Belisle is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Plainfield, Ill. He is the assistant sports editor of the Daily