I received an unexpected phone call last Tuesday afternoon.

It was from Natchez High School Athletic Director Fred Butcher, and he was asking me if I would speak at the school’s sports banquet the following evening.

I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first, since I had never spoken in front of a large group before. But I thought, what the heck, and told him I would do it.

I thought about what I would say for the next day. I came up with what I thought was a good topic and made myself some notes so I would stay on point and not lose my train of thought.

I managed to stagger my way through about a 10-minute speech, but I thought I did stay on point pretty well.

While the speech itself might not have been a thing of beauty, I thought the message was important.

So that’s why I’m going to write a little bit about it. There’s a reason I’m a journalist and not a television broadcaster.

When you’ve opened up the sports pages or watched the sports news the past several months, many of the things you’ve read about are of things that happen off the field, like:

4NFL players Adam Jones and Plaxico Burress being involved with firearms.

4Baseball players failing drug tests and NBA players being involved in fights outside nightclubs.

Athletes are role models for America’s youth, whether they want to be or not.

Ask kids who their role model is or who they want to be like when they grow up, and many of them will say a professional athlete.

Obviously the local high school athletes aren’t on the same platform with pro or high-level college athletes. But they share the same responsibility.

They are the most well known people in the school. They are being watched all the time, whether they know it or not.

Many of their classmates and people in the community look up to them because of their status as athletes.

With that notoriety comes a great responsibility and opportunity.

They have the chance to be a positive influence in the school and community.

Things like making good grades and helping out with community and church projects are ways athletes can make a difference.

But it doesn’t even have to be that dramatic.

Just the way they carry themselves, the way they dress and how they interact with others also can be important.

High school athletes may not think of themselves as role models or popular people in the school and community, but they are.

And it’s their responsibility to keep a positive image.