Extraordinary appeal

Beckham possesses all the right ingredients for popularity

For all you sports fans who have grown weary of the misogynist antics and attitudes of our All-American athletes toward women ... have I got a guy for you.

He is not only handsome, thoughtful, open-minded, a wonderful father, a loving husband, a good cook and a stylish dresser, but he's also terribly rich and, without a doubt, the most famous athlete in the world.

He is, of course, David Beckham, the English soccer star who was recently sold from Manchester United to Real Madrid for $40 million. Beckham is a global celebrity -- almost everywhere but here in the United States -- and the devotion to him often verges on idolatry. The international film hit Bend It Like Beckham does not star the 28-year-old midfielder, but, rather, is about his extraordinary appeal. And what is so particularly fascinating -- especially at a time when yet another top American sports star, Kobe Bryant, is facing sexual assault charges -- is that the core of Beckham's popularity derives from his image as the faithful, happily married family man.

In many respects, Beckham is the un-athlete, the very prototype of the modern, sensitive male, the metrosexual, if you will. Beckham is not afraid to be the man in the kitchen and the nursery, as well as the boudoir, and he has even, unafraid, aligned himself with homosexuals, posing for a gay magazine cover. But if gays adore Beckham, so too do little girls and old women -- and yes, even those ordinary soccer lads having a lager down at the pub. He's that rare celebrity jewel, who reveals different facets to different types of fans.

Of course, the Beckham phenomenon is not just related to his gentlemanly charisma. He possesses all the right ingredients for popularity. He is a good-looking blond, English-speaking and white, he's played spectacularly well for the most publicized clubs and he married glamorously, to Victoria Adams, formerly known as Posh Spice. It is them together -- Posh and Becks of the tab headlines -- who have, by the sum of their parts, made his soccer-playing almost incidental. No athlete has ever achieved the celebrity of David Beckham.

Likewise, he is prized in much of the world as that rare superstar who has achieved high status without either being American or being pushed by the American celebrity-making machinery. Beckham is not only the un-athlete, but also the un-American.

Fame, of course, has brought out critics. He and Posh are lambasted for their taste, their ostentation and their passion for all things shopping. They have been titled "the first family of vulgarity," and jokes about how dumb Beckham is purported to be are being passed on like Aggie jokes in Texas or Newfie jokes in Canada.

Why does Beckham write TGIF on all his soccer boots, every day?
Answer: TGIF -- Toes Go In First.

But in his high-pitched voice, Becks repeats his favorite Beckham jokes. He is as comfortable with himself as he is with fame. Unlike other entertainment celebrities, athletes must do real things, achieve under pressure in public, without a script. David Beckham is the first athlete who has added a real personal dimension to his resume. That his persona is the metrosexual, the tender husband and father, makes him, as an athlete, an intriguing and unique figure of our time.

Sports Illustrated senior contributing writer Frank Deford is a regular contributor to SI.com and appears each Wednesday on National Public Radio's Morning Edition. He is a longtime correspondent for HBO's Real Sports and his new novel, An American Summer (Sourcebooks Trade), is available at bookstores everywhere.

 

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