OPINION: Urban Meyer video is a bad image

Assistant Sports Editor Taylor Robertson responds to the viral video of NFL coach Urban Meyer. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Taylor Robertson | Assistant Sports Editor

Urban Meyer is receiving backlash on social media due to videos of him partying after the Jacksonville Jaguars fourth straight loss of the season to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday went viral.

Meyers was spotted at a bar in an Ohio State sweatshirt posing for pictures with multiple different women as his wife was at home taking care of their grandchildren.

One of the photos included Urban with a younger blonde girl with the caption, “Who is this he keeps flirting with me.” There was also a video that showed him sitting on a barstool as a woman danced on his lap.

Unfortunately for Meyer, word travels quickly in this day and age. Although many of the original posts added to Twitter and Facebook were taken down, what is put out on the internet is there to stay.

Urban responded to these claims stating that he should not have put himself in that position and apologized to the team for being a distraction. Meyer claimed that he was being lured onto the dance floor by these women asking him for pictures.

This raises the question, what reputation do NFL coaches need to uphold on their days off?

The way I see it is, as a public figure you must be particularly aware of your surroundings and how they could be portrayed. The power of social media leaves no room for privacy with celebrities.

Urban Meyer does not get to choose whether he is a role model or not.  From athletes who used to play for him, his own kids, grandchildren and other younger athletes who idolize him — he has an entire fanbase that pays close attention to the choices he makes.

If he feels that dancing with women at bars while his wife is at home aligns with his morals, then that is on him. If he chooses to participate in these activities in public, then he should expect to have his character questioned.

Whether you feel he made the right decision to entertain those women or not, this ultimately tarnishes his image. My advice would be that if you have to question if the choice you are making is the right one, it most likely is not.

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