Are football players good role models?

Nowadays, with the pervasive reach of social media in our lives, nothing private is really private any more. As a result, every little thing our favorite football players do is documented by cameras, and broadcast to the far corners of the earth (and space) via the wonders of the interwebz.

So with that in mind, the question for the week is -

Are Football Players Good Role Models?

Juventus has been lucky in the last couple of decades to count in its ranks some of the best sportsmen to have graced the sport. Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluigi Buffon are considered to be paragons of virtue, maintaining a calm demeanor on the pitch while giving their heart and soul to the game. In an era despoiled by characters like Francesco Totti posing as captains and then being eulogized by a deluded few, the aforementioned pair have risen above the muck that the Bianconeri had flung at them in the name of Calciopoli to maintain their status as role models.

Andrea Pirlo is another one of those who has played for the Old Lady and is considered to be a leader on the field worth emulating. Arturo Vidal is a warrior who has made a name for himself with his never-say-die attitude, but recently found himself on the wrong side of Massimiliano Allegri's wrath when he was spotted clubbing in the wee hours of dawn a matter of hours away from a critical fixture last week.

Italian football has had its fair share of leaders and losers in the last few years. Would you say that footballers make good role models? What are the characteristics you look for in a good role model? Who are some of the players in the Italian game you think make solid role models that you would look up to?

Let's hear your opinions in the comments below.