The apology from Joe Gibbs came quickly and forcefully, as sincere as the act committed by his racing team was blatant.
"If this alleged incident proves true, it goes against everything we stand for as an organization," the former Washington Redskins coach turned NASCAR owner said in a statement, after his racing team was caught in a major cheating scandal. "We will take full responsibility and accept any penalties NASCAR levies against us."
|
|
| Joe Gibbs has built his reputation based on integrity. (Getty Images) |
This could easily be a story about how NASCAR now leads all professional sports in cheating. When a man of relentless integrity like Gibbs heads a team that is allegedly caught manipulating technology to break the rules, that just about says it all.
Orlando columnist David Whitley called NASCAR "America's most crooked sport." Indeed NASCAR is beginning to make the Olympics look like a Girl Scout troop meeting.
"NASCAR even puts me to shame," says the Tour de France.
Yet this latest cheating scandal is about something larger than the disgrace that is becoming NASCAR. It's about the legacy of Gibbs.
His once pristine image is taking a massive beating and if this scandal grows the Gibbs legend could be injured even more.
We all make mistakes; I have and so have you. Some are more publicized than others. Some aren't at all. There were always a handful of people in sports, however, who were always above reproach. No amount of money or glory would force them to lower their personal standards. Gibbs was one of those people.
You have to understand that for those of us who grew up in the Washington area, Gibbs was viewed as almost a pseudo-God. He rebuilt the Redskins into a power and appeared to do so in an ethically uncompromising way. Gibbs became larger than an icon in Washington. In many ways he was more trusted and revered by Washingtonians than the various occupants of the White House during his time as Redskins head coach.
Gibbs apparently lived what he preached. Many athletes and coaches speak about God and then cheat on their wives. There was once a married New York Giants player I covered who spoke of being Born Again but had two girlfriends on the side (and I think those two girlfriends had girlfriends -- not that there's anything wrong with that). Marion Jones used to speak about God while lying about her steroid use.
The sports world is not alone in this phenomenon. Former presidential candidate John Edwards often talked about faith and family while screwing around on his cancer-stricken wife.
Gibbs was one of the few in sports who talked about his faith and was believable. Again, I'm not saying Gibbs was perfect -- none of us are -- but he was light years away from some of the other scoundrel coaches I've covered, such as Bill Parcells.
