The trap way too many people fall into is the idea that role models exist as x,y, or z. In reality people that deserve to be looked up to are everywhere.
Role models can also be polarizing people too. Colin Kaepernick and Tim Tebow are two great examples of people that use their platform to make a point or personify an idea. To millions those two are heroes and to that many more those two are opportunists with an agenda.
I understand your point and it's important to teach young people that because a person excels at something doesn't make that person extra in any other way.
I will encourage my children to look for leaders and people to look up to in roles my boys are interested in. If that's sports or music I'll encourage them to find quality role models in sports and music. If it's coding or enforcing laws I'd do the same.
The important takeaway is there are role models and shitty people in all walks of life.
I completely agree with your statement. There are a lot of great leaders in professional sports. People who take the opportunity to use their position to do good things and make strong statements. I even state this in my article. I think we need to take the time to find the good ones and respect and acknowledge their leadership efforts. Does this make them a hero though?
Muhammad Ali, Jessie Owens, and Jackie Robinson are 100% heroes. These guys are civil rights giants and should be recorded in history as peers of Rosa Parks and Malcolm X. I can't think of anything more heroic than doing something to the best of your ability in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Stan Musial, Ted Williams, and my god Pat Tillman are heroes. These guys sacrificed years of their careers, one even lost his life defending an idea. Selflessness and sacrifice are heroic qualities.
Those are some amazing examples!!! For sure there are athletes that are heroes. These people would have been heroes no matter what they did. They were amazing humans.