Sid Rosenberg: Curt Schilling the latest athlete to throw hat in political ring

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schillingis putting his money where his mouth is.Schilling announced on Tuesday that he has every intention of running for the Massachusetts Senate in 2018. Curt has a been a guest on my radio program twice in the past sixmonths and has expressed his conservativeviews in a way that many have scoffed at in disgust. And though I disagree with some of what he believes, I have to give it to the guy for sticking to his guns and not letting the critics sway his political views.

Curt has been injecting his opinions into thepolitical discussion for a while now and it actually got him fired from his gig at ESPN. If you remember back in April of this year, Schilling was let go by the sports broadcasting giant for sharing a Facebook post that seemed to be a response to the NorthCarolina law that bars transgenders from restrooms that do not correspond with the gender they were born as.It was a move that could have derailed his career for good but Schilling turned the firing into an opportunity to stand up for what he believed in.

Like I said before, I do not agree with everythingthat Schilling believes politically but what I do know is that this guy is a fighter and will not back down from anyone. Exhibit A is his baseball career. Schilling won 216 games and struck out over 3,100 batters in his career and never backed down from anyone.As an American, I believe we need more politicians who are willing to fight for what they believe is truly best for the people they represent and Schilling seems to have the chutzpah do just that.

Now, this is not the first instance where aprominent professional athlete has thrown their hat in the political arena. There was, of course,former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – who made his professionalname on a global scale. His success in the United States in the body-building arena and the Hollywood scene made his transition to American politics a breeze.

If there is something to learn about Schwarzenegger’s political success it is that there arecharacteristicsthat athletes possess that can be adapted to be a successful politician.

Take a look former NBA player Kevin Johnson,who was elected Mayor of Sacramento in 2008.Johnson, a three-time NBA All-Star for the Phoenix Suns, was one the most dynamic point guards in the NBA during the late 1980s and in the 1990s.Johnson averaged 17.9 points and 9.1 assists over his career,proving that he could facilitate the ball to his teammates as well as score on his own if he had too. That type of mentality is that of a leader, and it does not surprise me that a floor general like Johnson wound up in politics.

Though Curt Schilling did say that he needsto run the idea past his wife and kids before actually fully committing, all signs point to Curt giving current Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren a run for her money in 2018. Sounds like we may have a sequel to the “Hillary and Trump Saga of 2016” waitingin the wings.