Athletes make decent role models. Most ascribe to a positive work ethic and most are wholly dedicated to their sport.

But some were never meant to be put on pedestals. It’s not a character flaw, and it’s not a matter of guilt or innocence. Many athletes make superb role models; many do not. And as Americans, we are too quick to make all athletes out to be saints.

Regardless of your opinion about yesterday’s landmark verdict, O.J. Simpson is indisputably a paramount example of an athlete who does not posses true virtue.

Tapes of Nicole Brown Simpson’s 911 calls alone, paint a picture of a violent, possessive man, who could not control his rage off the football field. For more than a decade Simpson was held in the highest esteem by football fans across the country because he was — still is, I guess — the “Juice.”

Granted, the O.J. Simpson case is an extreme, but nearly without exception, athletes are initially held in high regard with little to no consideration given to their actions outside of their respective sports.

Even before O.J. became a movie of the week, every week, he had trouble living up to the pro-football-player-done-good stereotype. His violent past is one example. His promiscuous lifestyle is another.

So why do we do it? Why do we give athletes the benefit of limitless doubts when choosing who to idolize?

Because we want so desperately to believe that Michael Jordan isn’t really a compulsive gambler, that Charles Barkley didn’t really spit on a fan, that Lawrence Phillips didn’t really beat up his former girlfriend, that Mike Tyson didn’t really rape a beauty pageant contestant, that Darryl Strawberry hasn’t really flunked every drug test known to man and that Tanya Harding didn’t really orchestrate an assault on rival Nancy Kerrigan.

They’re our heroes and heroines after all. To give up on them would be like losing a member of the family.

I’m not saying athletes are at the heart of all evil. On the contrary, most of the collegiate and professional athletes I’ve met have deserved the wholesome images afforded to them.

As a society, however, we must do a better job of screening the athletes we choose to idolize and display as acceptable role models for today’s youth. Not all are appropriate; not all deserve to be looked up to.

It’s not always easy, though. I know I had trouble weaning myself from the Michael Jordan bandwagon after he reportedly lost tens of thousands of dollars betting on his golf game.

But as a matter of principle, it isn’t fair to those athletes who strive for excellence on and off the field to blindly place all athletes on pedestals, just hoping they won’t let us down.

And it’s just as unfair to those athletes, like Simpson, who make an unexpected fall from grace. I would presume few could withstand a constant pressure to always do the right thing. Athletes, and all role models, are bound to let someone down, sometime.

Gone are the days when big-time athletes are real people. The athlete’s new role in society is one of leadership, and there are leaders in all fields that go too far, that abuse the power entrusted to them.

But where leaders, who happen to be athletes, are forgiven for their wrongdoings time and time again, the politician is voted out of office and those in private industry are fired.

We didn’t have the option to fire O.J., but we certainly could have made our displeasure with the image he portrayed to his fans known. And who knows? Maybe a reality check years ago could have stopped the Trial of the Century before it started.