http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/cs-080507-athletes-robbed-chicago-mitchell,1,7471046.columnThe millions of dollars doled out to professional athletes, including some native Chicagoans, doesn't shield them from the perils ofstreet violence and brazen home invasions.
When it comes to targeted armed attacks or random assaults, the list of victims in the last 10 months with local ties includes Antoine Walker, Eddy Curry and, most recently, Rashard Mendenhall.
"As an athlete, I think it is a concern because you are dealing with people being robbed in general," said Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who graduated from Mt. Carmel High School and was a teammate of Walker's on the Caravan basketball team.
"… It is devastating not to be able to go out in the city of Chicago," McNabb said. "You want to know at least that you will be fine and have a good time and be able to go home. It's tough to hear every year that athletes are being robbed, especially with Mendenhall, a guy who [the Steelers just drafted out of Illinois]."
In an era when fans demand that their sports stars remain accessible to them, the security issue for the players makes them particularly vulnerable and wary.
McNabb enjoys communicating directly with fans through a secure Web site:
www.yardbarker.com.
"It is a dilemma," McNabb said. "People say: 'Well, he is not a guy you can have a conversation with; I feel like I am distant from him.' Some people are hurt because of that situation."
In the cases of Walker and Curry, the NBA players were robbed at gunpoint by home invaders last year. Mendenhall was robbed of his wallet and cell phone at gunpoint while walking along the lakefront near 39th Street and Lake Shore Drive early Monday morning.
Curry, who began his career with the Bulls, has moved his family to New York, where he plays for the Knicks.
Walker and McNabb are determined to remain active in the Chicago community.
"I think the people who are [robbing athletes] … it is a jealousy factor because we are rewarded, obviously, for playing well on the field," McNabb said "[Some] people can't stand to see what we're doing."
