Weepu a role model of remorse?
Put an All Black on a pedestal for his playing ability by all means – but please stop insisting they should be role models off the field.
Piri Weepu is no more or no less culpable than any other New Zealander guilty of a drinkdriving breach.
Drink driving is a dumb-ass decision. It puts people’s lives at risk. Many of us have made dumb decisions to get behind the wheel when impaired by alcohol. Some of us were caught. Others weren’t.
Should we now look at Weepu’s All Black career through a new lens after his court appearance?
Does his poor call to drive after imbibing erase the memory of his ice-cool kicking in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final?
What about Dan Carter? Widely regarded as one of the greatest All Blacks, did he plummet in our estimation purely because he was pinged for drink-driving in Paris?
Not likely.
Weepu perhaps deserves credit for getting on the front foot by going public before his appearance in the Lower Hutt District Court yesterday. Until then, he had mounted a legal battle to keep his name out of the public eye.
He was granted – without the news media present - an ex parte suppression order (meant to be used in ‘‘exceptional cases’’).
‘‘I made an error in judgment and put my hand up 100% and admit it was really bad call on my part,’’ the 34-year-old said in a candid confession on his Instagram account.
‘‘I’m extremely embarrassed and sorry for any impact this may have on my friends and family, and the wider community.’’
Good on Weepu for admitting his remorse.
Let’s hope no-one trots out the tired old line that he has brought rugby into disrepute or had a higher duty of responsibility as a ‘‘role model’’ than anyone else.
Does the fact someone played 73 tests and won a Rugby World Cup mean they should be held to a higher standard than the rest of us? Where is the logic in that?
Piri Weepu hasn’t let down New Zealand rugby – he has let down Piri Weepu. He should answer only to the courts, his conscience and his family.
His convictions may have some consequences for his television career – but that’s for others to decide.
But don’t start ripping up your 2011 World Cup No 9 jersey because a fellow five years past his last All Black test has tripped up off the field.
Does anyone seriously believe an impressionable teenager will sink a skinful and then drive and say: ‘‘It’s OK Dad, an All Black did it?’’ What is a role model anyway? Does any parent in their right mind instruct their kids to hold up sportspeople as shining exemplars of moral behaviour?
Most of us learn the hard way that everyone – no matter how gifted at games – is human – and humans can have feet of clay.
As soon as we sanctify someone, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.
Some revered rugby figures once flouted a High Court order – and a rising tide of public opinion in New Zealand – by touring apartheid-ravaged South Africa with the rebel Cavaliers.
That, however, doesn’t diminish their deeds from the days they were officially sanctioned All Blacks. And there is always the opportunity for redemption.
Many of those self-serving Cavaliers have gone on to serve the sport selflessly since.
Sportspeople should be ‘‘role models’’ at kicking or passing a ball, running around a track or heaving the shot put, but don’t elevate them to a higher plane – that’s unfair.
Our real role models should dwell closer to home – parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, neighbours, teacher, work colleagues, community volunteers, spiritual mentors, even politicians (if that floats your boat).
Weepu should be treated no differently to any other person – no matter their age or occupation – in the dock on a drink-driving charge.
The law courts won’t differentiate, but will the court of public opinion be so evenhanded?
An ex-all Black hits the headlines for driving over the limit. But, Joe and Joanne Average Citizen escapes similar scrutiny, more often than not.
But whenever we point the finger over a legal or moral lapse and ignore the inconvenient truth that there are three digits pointing back.
Weepu has taken his lumps in court, and can become regarded as a ‘‘role model’’ – if there must be such a thing – for his response.
He pleaded guilty, expressed his contrition and declared he was wrong.
Now, he could use his celebrity – such as it is – to front the next anti-drink driving advertising campaign.
If Piri Weepu – reformed drink driver – could use his own bitter experience to stop other Kiwis from driving drunk, his legend would exceed anything he accomplished on the pitch.