Commentary : There Is No Privacy for Today’s Pro Athlete

Quick, what do Edwin Moses, Ron Springs and Dave Stewart have in common?

“Perry Mason”?

“Hill Street Blues”?

“Cagney and Lacey”?

No, this is no chortling matter. This isn’t a court of law, either. For the moment, let’s not be concerned with exactly what these three did or did not do. That isn’t the point, Mr. Mason.

What these three share is stupidity. All-American stupidity. These three don’t seem to realize how much they have and how quickly it can be gone. It hasn’t hit them that the same public that has been so good to them can be just as cruel.

They haven’t figured out there is no offseason for a pro athlete. If you’re going to make a million a year in post-Olympic endorsements (Moses) or some $450,000 to pitch for the Rangers (Stewart) or some $250,000 to be a Cowboy (Springs), you no longer are just another guy. Not even after work or on vacation. You are always a star, a name, a walking, ticking headline. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it for a normal 9-to-5 life.

If you’re going to be a star, and want to remain one, there are certain situations you simply must avoid. Certain wrong places that potentially can become wrong times.

Here’s the million-dollar question: What in the name of sanity were these three doing in these situations?

What was Moses doing driving his Mercedes, with an all but neon “OLYMPYN” plate, down Hollywood’s Sunset Strip at 3 in the morning? Do you know that stretch of Sunset? Sleaze city. Cheap hookers and winos.

Why was Moses bantering with what appeared to be hooker? Aren’t there safer, more discreet ways to have a cheap thrill, if that was his desire? Had he forgotten he had just been named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year?

She, of course, was a policewoman and he was charged with soliciting a prostitute. And America cried, “Say it ain’t so, Mo.’ ” And naturally, Moses’ attorney cried entrapment and overzealous prosecution because this “john” doe was Edwin Moses--unholy Moses.

Same song, second verse: Stewart drives through an L.A. area that, if possible, is even seedier than Sunset. Surely Stewart had read that Moses had fallen into a citywide net of prostitution busts. Stewart: busted for committing a lewd act.

Sheer stupidity.

Naturally, Stewart’s attorney, Ed Boyko, said, “ . . . this is probably the most insignificant offense and charge I’ve had any dealings with. . . . The only reason it’s even a news item is that it’s a prominent athlete. If it was anyone else, Mr. Citizen, the city editor would throw (the story) into the waste basket.”

That’s precisely the point. Dave Stewart is not Mr. Citizen. He’s a big-league pitcher who had been voted the Ranger Good Guy award, for the player who best represents the organization. Yet this isn’t any soap-box speech about Stewart’s responsibility to kids or parents. The point is, if he’s going to solicit a streetwalker, as untold Mr. Citizens do daily, Dave Stewart is asking for big trouble.

Yes, he did show at the recent Ranger banquet, which took courage and even more humility. But he had to face the media music sooner or later. He probably was advised to apologize publicly and perhaps turn himself from villain to hero.

Stewart got a standing ovation. How many Mr. Citizens would get an ovation for getting arrested for having a lewd act performed on them?

Only in America, if not Dallas.

Then again, how many Mr. Citizens will be asked about the incident in interview after spring training interview? Now the bust may be mentioned in every Stewart profile ever written. Stewart, after one low-profile season with the Rangers, may not have been widely known in the metroplex. Now, even casual fans know him as, “The guy who . . . “

Just as Ron Springs is, for the moment, the guy who got into it with the cops at the strip joint. Springs said he’ll be glad to tell the real story--after a possible trial. The word from several sources close to the situation is that Springs was a victim of circumstances.

Details, details.

The Million-Dollar question is, what was Springs doing at the Million Dollar Saloon in the first place? It doesn’t matter that it has valet parking or that other pro jocks hang out there. Why would a player with Springs’ future--and checkered past--keep putting himself in these situations?

He has a fashionable Dallas home and wife. He has size and speed and hands and a good football head. In this opinion, he is not a bad apple--a Hollywood Henderson. He’s smart enough to realize “it’s rough out there,” meaning being a Cowboy in Dallas is a dangerous double-edged sword. He has heard the locker-room talk that Dallas police or D.A.s are sometimes tougher on Cowboys. You know: Don’t let them get away with anything just because they’re Cowboys. Or: Get famous or promoted by busting or convicting a Cowboy.

I don’t know if that’s true. But why find out? Wasn’t Springs’ name linked to a federal drug investigation? Nothing came of it, but some image damage was done. Hasn’t he been crossways with Coach Tom Landry for being too outspoken over playing time and the quarterback issue? Doesn’t he have a reputation for having too good a time?

Isn’t there speculation he’ll be traded? And even if Springs wants to be, has he hurt his chances with this latest negative publicity?

During the pre-Super Bowl hype in the San Francisco papers, Springs made Super-sized headlines. When one of Landry’s altar boys gets arrested, even during Super Week, it’s news . In Dallas, front-page news.

“I guess one of my problems is that I don’t worry too much about anything,” Springs said. It’s a problem he shares with Moses and Stewart. Three stars trying to get away with being Mr. Citizens. Three blind mice.