Tiger Woods' Press Conference/Apology: Did it finally shed some light on this dark subject?

As we all know today was being referred to as “The State of Tiger Address”.  However, with that said I believe that all of the media coverage of this almost public apology rather than a press conference was something three months too late.  The only other athlete who we can compare with is Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant.  Bryant was accused of rape of a girl while in Colorado about six years ago.  The only difference between the two public apologies is that Kobe Bryant was out the very next day with his wife and daughter holding a press conference apologizing to his friends, fans, and most important his wife.  Tiger Woods went into almost three months of hiding.

I can honestly say that I was skeptical of Tiger Woods and how he was handling this entire situation regarding his first public appearance in almost three months.  Tiger set up basically a safe haven in a sense because he said he wasn’t going to answer any questions and chose who was going to be in the room while he spoke.  Basically I saw the same old Tiger and thought that he was almost dictating or manipulating the media like he always has.  However, I noticed someone who realized what he did and the negative effects this is having on him and peoples thoughts about him from the first time he spoke.

Tiger Woods started out his public apology with,

“Many of you in this room are my friends," he said during the emotional speech. "Many in this room know me. Many of you have cheered for me, or you worked with me, or you supported me. Now, every one of you has good reason to be critical of me. I want to say to each of you simply and directly: I am deeply sorry for my irresponsibility and selfish behavior I engaged in.”

This is what made me realize that he has learned from his actions and is working on fixing them.  He left a lot of room for interpretation though because he was very vague in everything he said.  One more thing I noticed is that Tiger Woods is slowly coming back, not in his sport but as a person again with the anger he showed through his voice in certain parts of his apology and the most coming with this statement and one later on.

“I know people want to find out how I can be so selfish and so foolish," he said. "People want to know how I could have done these things to my wife Elin and my children…My real apology to her will not come in the form of words. It will come in my behavior over time. We have a lot to discuss. However, what we say to each other will be between the two of us."

This was a huge step for Tiger but we were able to really see how he felt about how his wife and kids were being treated and something that he felt needed to be discussed and time the truth came out.

"There's one issue I really want to discuss. Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving night. It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that. Elin has never hit me that night or any night. Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal. Elin deserves praise, not blame. The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behavior. I was unfaithful, I had affairs, I cheated.”

"What I did was not acceptable and I am the only person to blame. I stopped living by the core values I was taught to believe in. I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. I thought only about myself…I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I felt I was entitled.  Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them."

Tiger Woods through it all had a pretty even keel manner but showed his old character, the one who let his anger get the best of him on the golf course.  Probably the most important part of his entire apology was five words that took up two sentences.  Tiger has shown us all that he acknowledges what he did was wrong and is truly sorry.

The most confusing or unexpected things from this all, not the conference itself, but when he brought up his faith in Buddhism and how he strayed away from that and when he mentioned ‘PEDs’.  Many of us, especially me never knew that Woods was once practicing this faith and that he was brought up this way and that he actually mentioned steroids in this day-and-age of all that’s going on with baseball. 

Tiger has had this notion of him being above the law and that the media should not follow him and his every move.  HELLO, earth to Tiger Woods! When you’re the best golfer on the planet and one of the top athletes people will dictate your every move.  When you throw in his marriage to Elin Nordegren (pictured on left) whom many of us can say is beautiful you’ve gotten something for everyone from TMZ to ESPN.  You will be followed and no matter how hard you try you cant just escape and run from things.  Here’s what he said,

"I still believe it is right to shield my family from the public spotlight. They didn't do these things; I did. For the sake of my family, please leave my wife and kids alone. I recognize I have brought this on myself, and I know above all I am the one who needs to change. I owe it to my family to become a better person. I owe it to those close to me to become a better man. That's where my focus will be."

Tiger did mention his thoughts on when he might return to golf but it may or may not be something many of us wanted to hear. He said that he has not ruled out playing this year but he has a lot of work to do before he can even think about a return and Woods commented about how he would return,

"When I return, I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game," he said, before wrapping up his comments.”

Woods may or may not have won the hearts of many with this press conference or public apology because of the way he acted throughout it all by looking down at his notes every other word or how he ended it.  I on the other hand believe that he (Woods) ended his apology the best way anyone in his situation could.  He apologized one last time and then turned and walked over to his mother (pictured on right) and embraced her for quite some time.  This was huge for me to see and I immediately wished the best for Tiger. His closing statement was this,

“There are many people in this room and many people at home who believed in me. Today, I ask for your help. I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again. Thank you."

I loved how he chose to say the word ‘believe’ instead of ‘forgive’ because he showed how human he really is and is taking on the role model position far better than he had in the past.