Dating professional athletes

They say dating professional athletes is not so easy. They say that it takes a special kind of woman/man to successfully maintain a relationship with a professional athlete. And I believe this to be true.

Would you date a professional athlete? (Whether you knew coming in they were already an athelte OR if they started that kind of professional career after the relationship started)

Do you think you'd be able to handle all the territory that comes with dating professional athletes or hell, for that matter, ANYONE who would continuoulsy be in the public spotlight? Be honest!

@Cancer: Understandable. The thing is, dating a professional athlete takes more than just "loving" someone. Certain careers bring on certain territories that other careers don't. There is a HUGE difference b/w dating a mechanic vs. dating Michael Jordan.

Even though we'd all love to imagine that regardless of our partner's career, we'd still love them & accept them as they are, the REALITY though is that alot of relationships suffer from lack of trust and/or lack of being on the same page as it is. Hell it's hard for the average woman to remain in a relationship with the average blue-collar working man.

ShXt there's alot that comes with dating professional athletes: the constant traveling & distance, the constant moving, the constant possibility for jealousy, the constant publicity & media (there is NO celebrity on earth that swore the media hasn't affected/changed them), etc. I guess this also might be the reason celebrities would much rather prefer to date other celebrities, and/or atleast others who are already accustomed to that kind of life style . It's not that Brad Pitt couldn't find any average working woman who looks twice as beautiful as Angelina Jolie. I'm sure, he found more comfort in settling down with someone who already understands that kind of life style , vs. taking the chance on someone whose never been through that before.

Oh man, we're not even going to discuss the negative stereotypes that come with women (ESPECIALLY) who date professional athletes. They're always seen as gold-diggers no matter what. Athletes seem to be one of those high-spotlight careers where the men don't necessarily choose companionship with someone whose already famous. I think that's also why alot of the women who are with/married to athletes are automatically seen as gold-diggers or opportunists. If Tiger Woods got with Serena or Venus Williams, no one would call her a gold-digger, BUT if Tiger married some random chick he met at a Las Vegas casino, no one would take her or their marriage seriously

@Scorpio: Yeah I've heard about this type of mentatlity being the "norm" with professional athletes, especially the men.

I'm not even going to lie, those guys can have anything they want & some people can't even knock them for being so arrogant. Is it cute? Well no but think about it, those guys live out most people's dreams (well from a man's eyes).
They:
1. Make millions of dollars a year
2. They are treated like royalty from fans, coaches, friends & basically the whole outside world
3. They have access to an unlimited supply of gorgeous women..and in an athlete's world, being a womanizer is the "norm."

My cousin Robert is in the NFL & when he was 1st drafted, the coaches warned him NOT to get a girlfriend or settle down (if he was already single) until after his career or ATLEAST Until he had played for a few years. Some coaches don't want the players being distracted by "love" OR even worse, being dragged down by a relationship that probably won't last anyways (b/c of all the pressures from the media along with everything else). Those coaches want their players to fit in with the rest of the team, who are probably womanizers. They could care less about how women feel about womanizing; those coaches just want to make sure that nothing/no one gets in the way so their players can make THEM big bucks too

@Scorpio..but hey if you think about it, no woman really wants to hear that BUT from an athelte's perspective, they are still just as human even though they are athletes. Hell it's hard for the average man to contain himself when he's around lots of beautiful women 24-7 & those coaches know that. There are all kinds of women out there that could not only be trying to "distract" him BUT also ruin him (sometimes unknowingly). Those coaches see it like this: there are MILLIONS of dollars/fans on the line..they could really give a F less about how some "girl/groupie" feels.

I think it's different if a player already had a girlfriend/wife before they went pro. Even then, coaches still advise against it but hey, if that player is already taken & has been for years (or atleast a long time), there's nothing they can really do BUT warn them.

The last thing a coach needs to hear is that one of it's star players got HIV or got a woman he's not married to pregnant. Things like that can potentially ruin careers and even lives. Plus, there's so much extortion out here, it's crazy! Plus, those coaches probably assume every woman chasing after an athlete must be a gold digger anyways so they're not really going to show much respect to a woman whose being seen with 1 of their players

I like men with a certain amount of status, but, I would say more so occupational status rather than social status and would most likely not consider a professional athlete because of their social status and the fact that they tend to be in the limelight.

I agree. Granted, not all who live in the social/media lime-light are cheaters, BUT let's just be realistic, the average guy making $ 8/hr. wouldn't even be able to contain himself if he were exposed to such luxuries & beautiful/flawless women on a regular basis! So it's even more "normal" for a man to be a womanizer when he's an athlete, if anything b/c he'll constantly be in an environment where "Cheating" is okay. The coaches AND other plays support eachother & are all on the same page; do you think any of Kobe's team mates were the ones to snitch on him when he got caught cheating on his wife? Hell no, b/c they were all probably doing the same.

If married athletes can barely contain themselves & stay faithful to the wives they entered into a commitment with before GOD, there's no way the average single athlete (especially the young ones who havne't been in the game long enough) is going to learn the value of being faithful; there's no way. It's kind of like trying to stay sober but yet hanging with all drug addicts. Is it possible? Well yes anything is possible. BUT, is it likely? Hell no.

Plus people forget that the average man in general has a problem keeping his WOCKET in his POCKET, even when he's surrounded by peers who excerise fidelity, so it's even HARDER for professional athletes to understand the creed of being faithful, especially when they're surrounded 24 hours a day by guys/players who could care less about it. If those players get caught cheating, so what, they can easily find another chick who is just as pretty, just as beautiful & just as willing to put up with them. Players aren't stupid. They figure that 99% of the women chasing after them anyways are in it for the WRONG reasons, so it's no wonder those players don't put a high priority on being faithful.

Hell it's hard to get the average blue-collar working man to be faithful; and it's even harder for the average every day man to have some of the most gorgeous women chasing after him 24 hours a day. When people are exposed to the limelight/media, they change; And when people know their needs will be met REGARDLESS of their personal values on the side, people aren't as strict about following tradition/morals.

The average guy whose got a hot girl on his arm, might have a little bit to lose if he's caught cheating, b/c guys hate losing their eye candy. But imagine how professional athletes see it: they have an UNLIMITED supply of beautiful women that are JUST as willing

Even before reading all this I wouldn't consider dating a professional athlete. But reading it brought me awareness to their world. I've always prefered someone at my level in life. I'm not into being well known or famous or you know, that high class world where I'm treated like a goddess, though that doesn't sound so bad sometimes 😉, but I'm not into being spoiled. Just ask my mom. Doesn't work for me. It's almost like dating someone in the military, the traveling part, the distance, only they're treated allot better and surrounded by anything and everything they want. So yea, simple, successful is what I want and that's the type of guy I'll only go for. Even if you love the guy you need to be with someone that's not only on the same page but in the same book!

Hey what about women athletes? Are they always surrounded by hot guys? Ooohh wouldn't that be fun lol 😉 I'm speaking through hormones so don't judge. But if I was a single professional athlete, boy!, would I enjoy the few of hot men 🙂

*view*

hehe nice. I wouldn't mind fine dining and wining by some one who can aford it. And hey it's their choice to spend the money on me, no? I mean, I'm not forcing it out of them if they want to take me out lol but I'll keep my head up high anyway. Nothing for me to loose right as long as I'm aware the dude isn't serious and has women all over him all the time without a care. Why not get a piece of what he offers? Sure, that sounds like gold digging, but... ehh.. he's going to give to just any girl anyway. I would go for shoes though 😉 not bags. Okay.. a bag or two and a trip to somewhere I actually might like, like Hawaii, but I'm not giving no goddies :p and if he gets tired of me oh well, I gained not lost hehe I'm such a bitch huh?

Don't think I'd date a footballer, maybe just use him for sex.

I date a pro-athlete and it isn't easy AT ALL, among the normal stresses of a relationship, there are,as stated earlier, the frequent trips/distance, publicity, groupies,etc. I wouldn't be gullible to say that my man isn't having fun, but the key is to have your own life also,consuming of everything you did before you were with him (minus the "single lady" things). Have a good consistent job, friends (girls and guys if appropriate), girls nights out, etc. He's always going to be busy, so you have to be that way too. You will just have to be flexible to his schedule for a while to make things happen. You go into it with the mentality that if he cheats, its done, point blank, and you def have to be a very secure woman.Most of the athlete's wives/girlfriends I've met are well established business women who had their own thing going beforehand, or they met whomever they are with in college and have been together for a while. I too thought the stereotypical things about the women involved with pro athletes, but now seeing it from the inside out, I tip my hat to many of the women (notice I didn't say ALL). Literally our first couple conversations when we started dating was about all of this. I laid out my expectations and so did he. Thank goodness he is a loyal and good man,but people,places, and things can change you, no matter if you want them to or not. We both are in very public/publicity filled jobs but have mastered the art of secrecy and keeping our small groups of family and friends to a minimum. Many people don't know we are dating on another, we just say we are taken and move on, but it's been working for a while.