Death tends to bring out a tendency by journalists to exaggerate.
If you had asked NFL fans last week to list the players from the decades of the 1990s and 2000s who were “icons” or “legends,” they would have named Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Jerry Rice, Reggie White, Ray Lewis, Barry Sanders and a few others. I don’t think many would have named Junior Seau.
He was a star and a probable Hall of Famer, but I didn’t think of him as an icon or legend, and I don’t think most fans did. But his suicide made him both in the front-page headline of USA Today (I stayed in a hotel last night, so it was delivered to my door).
I should add that I would have no criticism of the use of either term by the San Diego media. He clearly was iconic there, with Dan Fouts probably one of the two greatest Charger players ever. But not nationally. It’s not a big deal, just an indication that journalism isn’t as objective as we sometimes portray it. Journalism is practiced by humans, and we react with human emotion, surprise and exaggeration sometimes.
You might disagree. I guess being an icon or a legend is really a matter of opinion. But that makes my point about how many opinions really work their way into the news coverage that many traditional journalists describe as objective.
Update: The reaction on Twitter and in the comments shows disagreement on my first point, but underscores my final point, about this being a matter of opinion:
USA Today called Junior Seau an “icon” & a “legend.” Would NFL fans (outside San Diego) have called him that in life? wp.me/poqp6-26X
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) May 3, 2012
@stevebuttry Yes.
— Tom Bridge (@tbridge) May 3, 2012
@tbridge I liked & respected him. Just didn’t see as iconic or legendary.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) May 3, 2012
@tbridge Plenty of room for different opinions, but, as I noted, that illustrates the role opinion plays in “news” headlines.
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) May 3, 2012
@stevebuttry Sure, but I don’t think his death changed anything for me. I always liked Seau, and always respected him. An East/West thing?
— Tom Bridge (@tbridge) May 3, 2012
@stevebuttry Well, you’re wrong about everything else in sports, why should this be different? 😀
— Tom Bridge (@tbridge) May 3, 2012
@stevebuttry He had 12 Pro Bowl appearances, trailing only 5 players in NFL history. Maybe the East Coast didn’t see him way West Coast did?
— Jason Hoppin (@scnewsdude) May 3, 2012
@stevebuttry – He was an ambassador for the game. Well known among all NFL fans.
— Patrick Thornton (@pwthornton) May 3, 2012
@pwthornton Is that definition of icon or legend?
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) May 3, 2012
@stevebuttry – Probably not. He was a big player in the 1990s and made a lot of pro bowls. Probably hall of famer but legend?
— Patrick Thornton (@pwthornton) May 3, 2012
@stevebuttry – Had he played on better teams and led his team to a title or two he might be considered a legend.
— Patrick Thornton (@pwthornton) May 3, 2012
@stevebuttry – I think your point is valid. He is actually one of those guys that has better numbers than legend status.
— Patrick Thornton (@pwthornton) May 3, 2012
@stevebuttry He’s a huge deal in LA. I think half of us are USC alums, and we love our football stars.
— Toni Sciacqua (@dailybreezeME) May 3, 2012
@dailybreezeME I noted that he had local icon status in San Diego. But for USA Today?
— Steve Buttry (@stevebuttry) May 3, 2012
@stevebuttry @dailybreezeME Should USC win it all, what word shall we create for Matt Barkley? 4-year starter at QB vs. 2-yr. starter at LB
— Brian Martin (@TheBMartin) May 3, 2012
The Buttry Diary 
My personal hed wudda been ‘Football player you never heard of commits suicide.’
We relied on AP online, so the hed read ‘ex-linebacker.’
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I agree with you. News is as objective as the people creating it which is to say it’s subjective as well. Now that we tech folks writing algorithm to create local news (see Chicago Tribune’s recent acquisition of the math-churning news site Journatic) well see if it gets more objective as time goes on.
But if you live in Kansas City Junior is an icon! He disrupted your life for many a years and as a person who used to live just north of that fair city Junior is more than just a good football player to me. But I think iconic would be an apt description not for what he did on the field per se but what happened to him afterward. Since iconic only means “an image or representation,” from the Greek word meaning likeness or similarity, I feel the word is an apt description for Seau in terms of the tragedy that befalls a lot of former defensive football players after they leave the NFL. In that sense I think iconic fits for Seau. After his 2010 non-suicide attempt???, he became the poster boy for what happens when football legends are put out to pasture. To me he is, sadly, an icon for what happens when a sport sucks the life out of you and you are too fragile or unprepared to deal with its consequences.
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Good point. He did have a few good games against the Chiefs (my team). But I wouldn’t call Derrick Thomas an icon either.
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He fits into the timely concerns of NFL players and concussions.
I laughed at your apologetic excuse on why you have an actual newspaper photo on your website. ‘I didn’t by this thing they left it at my door’.
Add to that writingprincess’s commentary on when when have better technology and don’t have to rely on local humans at all it will all be better.
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I’m not a huge NFL fan, but even I knew of Seau’s fearsome playing reputation and his personal reputation as a great guy. I grew up in LA and now live in the SF Bay area – neither are hotbeds of Seau fandom.
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YOU ARE THE BIGGEST DUMMY IN THE SPORTS WORLD AND SHOULDN’T BE A SPORTS JOURNALIST OR GIVE OPINIONS ON SPORTS FOR THAT MATTER. FOOTBALL IS A TEAM SPORT AND NO ONE MAN WINS THE SUPERBOWL. IT ISN’T ON ONE EFFORT ITS A TEAMS EFFORT AND THE OPPORTUNITY GIVEN TO THEM THAT HELPS WIN GAMES. I LIVED IN SAN JOSE GROWING UP AND ALL THEY SHOWED WERE 49ers, Raiders and who ever were the popular teams during those times which were the Giants, Redskins, Bills, Dolphins, Chiefs, Broncos, Cowboys, Packers and the Oilers. I loved watching the Bills and Dolphins games and the Giants in the playoffs. I also loved to watched those games that had the Chargers playing in and who stood out was SEAU. Majority was against the Raiders, Broncos and Chiefs He was the Polamalu of those times except playing linebacker and flying around to the football. This is just one of the reasons why his peers regard him as one of the best ever. Peyton Manning is a LEGEND, A SUPERSTAR QB, He is not some chump who writes articles about a professional game that he’s never played a down in. Manning called Seau and Ray Lewis the best linebackers he ever played against. Manning faced Seau during Seau’s later years. That’s saying something right there. Manning also said,”Junior was truly a once-in-a-lifetime player.” and goes on with saying, “He was very difficult to play against because his instincts would always lead him to the right place on defense — or the wrong place for the offense.” THAT’S COMING FROM SOMEONE WHO’S OPINION SHOULD COUNT. SOMEONE WHO WITNESSED IT FIRST HAND. People want to use the Superbowl argument. Well just because you won the Superbowl doesn’t make one person better than the other. Dexter Jackson was superbowl mvp should we say he’s better than Ed Reed or Troy Polamalu? A superbowl championships put a team as the best that year. ITS A TEAM’S REWARD FOR THEIR VALIANT CAMPAIGN AND EFFORT THAT MADE THEM CHAMPIONS. The Superbowl argument should only be used to define a franchise, a organization, a team not an individual. Then we’d have to say Dick Butkus is not a legend or Dan Marino is not a icon and Barry Sanders was ok at playing running back. So don’t you dare say that Seau is not an ICON or a LEGEND. I CAN’T STAND WHEN PEOPLE OPEN THEIR MOUTH ON A SUBJECT THEY DON’T HAVE A CLUE ABOUT. I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO GET GAMES OF SAN DIEGO AND EXPERIENCE THE JUNIOR SEAU FURY LIVE ON TV AND I REGRET NEVER GETTING TO SEE HIM PLAY IN A STADIUM. WHETHER THEY WERE LOSING OR WINNING THE GAME(WHICH WAS HARDLY DURING THOSE DAYS), JUNIOR SEAU WAS PLAYING LIKE A PRO SHOULD. 200% EFFORT EVERY DOWN TiL THE WHISTLE BLEW AND TIME EXPIRED. SEAU IS A ICON. SEAU IS A LEGEND. THERE ARE GREAT LB’S THAT HAVE PLAYED IN THE GAME. NO DISRESPECT TO ANY OF THEM BUT I WOULD RATHER HAVE SEAU OVER ANY OF THEM ON MY TEAM.
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