Tiger Woods Will Break His Silence at a Press Conference Friday

Tiger Woods was in a one car accident in late November 2009 that seemed to set his career into a downward spiral. Allegations of drug and alcohol use began not long following the accident. Within two weeks of the accident, several women came forward claiming to be mistresses of Woods. These allegations of affairs cost Woods his image of being a family man, and he lost some sponsors. At some point following the reveal of Woods' mistresses, he entered a sex rehabilitation center in Mississippi. There are conflicting reports on whether he and wife Elin are working on their marriage.

Tiger Woods is doing the right thing in speaking out about what really happened. Hopefully, his speech will at least provide a sense of closure for him and his family to move on from the events of the past several months. I predict he will apologize for not being the role model his fans thought he was and may speak about receiving treatment for sex addiction. He will also speak at the press conference about trying to work out his marriage if this is in fact what he and Elin are choosing to do. Woods will be remorseful and somber in his speech.

It is difficult to judge whether Woods' press conference speech will have an effect on his career. I do not believe the fact that several months passing since the infidelity allegations began will affect the outcome of what he says. What happened between he and Elin was very personal, painful, and they needed time to come to terms with it. Judging from the experience of other high-profile celebrities, politicians, and sports stars, Tiger Woods' reputation may always be marred by infidelity. President Bill Clinton's response when his inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky was revealed did not stop the crude jokes about his womanizing from taking over the world. Bill Clinton was, however, one of our presidents and the ultimate role model. Sports stars and celebrities are held to a somewhat lesser example.

Tiger Woods is not the first athlete to be unfaithful to his wife, nor will he be the last. Travelling the world, having your pick of beautiful women, it must all combine to create a culture where being faithful to a spouse is very difficult. Six years ago, Kobe Bryant was accused of rape (though it did not go to a jury) while married to his current wife. Bryant admitted to having consensual sex with the woman who accused him, so infidelity was an issue in his marriage much like Tiger Woods. Bryant's reputation was marred by the incident and he lost sponsors as well. Several years after the incident, Bryant has different endorsement deals and seems to have somewhat bounced back from the incident. Bryant's infidelity case involved one woman however while Tiger Woods' case involved several. There seems to be no precedent for how having many mistresses will affect a career.

It is impossible to predict the future in regard to what it holds for Tiger and Elin Woods but everyone can agree we all want what is best for the Woods' children. Hopefully this press conference will at least give the family back some of its privacy so they can continue to live their lives and not be held under a magnifying glass.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/07/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main5922873.shtml

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4839414

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=4921899

http://marriage.about.com/cs/celebritymarriages/a/kobebryant.htm