A comparative analysis of Roger Staubach and Joe Namath as sports heroes using Orrin Klapp's dialectical process of hero formation

Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-140)Throughout time athletes have been heroes in the human imagination. Thousands of men and women engage in amateur and professional sports every year and their performances are carried to the masses by the media. A few performers emerge as heroes; some become legends. The vast majority, however, fade from the public???s consciousness\ud The role of the hero has undergone a great transformation. Talent is important but is not the sole criterion in determining who we remember and who we forget; who we idolize and who we criticize. Out of the thousands of talented performers who appear on television screens and in newspaper and magazine sports pages, which of those performers will emerge as heroes?\ud Using sociologist Orrin E. Klapp's dialectical process (which is essentially a guide to the complex procedure of hero formation) as a framework for analysis, the hypothesis of this thesis is that physical ability and talent are not the most important criteria in the determination of which performer becomes a sports hero, but rather it is the ability to respond properly to this dialectical process of hero formation.\ud Two professional football players -- Roger Staubach and Joe Namath ??? were selected for analysis and their autobiographical works were compared in a chronological fashion to the coverage of them in the Dallas Morning News (for Staubach), the New York Times (for Namath), and Sports Illustrated magazine (for both men). The years studied were 1962 through 1974.\ud Results of this study indicate that, except for some minor deficiencies, Klapp's process is a functional one. Additionally, it is shown how Staubach and Namath successfully proceeded from the first step in the process to the last, ultimately emerging as heroes