Ari Fleischer says Ryan Braun needs to 'bare his soul,' be contrite and be heartfelt

Former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer advised Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals when the former slugger needed a strategy to admit publicly that he used steroids.

Fleischer, who heads Ari Fleischer Sports Communications, was hired for a time by Tiger Woods after Woods’ private life became international news. Fleischer was used by the Packers in 2008 when they were dealing with the messy departure of quarterback Brett Favre.

So when Fleischer (left) called on Wednesday to talk about Brewers slugger Ryan Braun and how Braun might draw a map that could lead him back to some level of respectability, I was more than a little curious about his suggestions.

On Tuesday, this blog offered a sampling of opinion about what Braun needs to do next, the path he needs to walk, in order to restore his good name, if that is even possible.

“I say this as somebody who does not know him, doesn’t know his personality and that’s a very important starting point, because anything somebody does they have to do with credibility,” Fleischer said. “In his case, that has become a much higher hurdle. It’s very hard in the pr world to come up to the plate when you have two strikes against you.”

Braun was suspended by Major League Baseball this season because of his connections to the Biogenesis clinic and performance-enhancing drugs.

“There are three parts to it,” Fleischer said about what Braun should do. “One is a full mea culpa now, like Mark McGwire did. He has to bare his soul, explain he messed up. But it has to be heartfelt and he has to mean it. It can’t be mouthed. It can’t be somebody else’s creation. It has to be genuine or fans and reporters are going to see right through it.

“If he were a client, I would really work him over to make that assessment,” Fleischer said. “If they just can’t pull it off, because they are too arrogant or because they don’t believe it, then I would say you don’t have a way back.”

Part two in his plan is a little easier.

“Go away,” Fleischer said. “Then lay low. Go away. Accept your punishment.”

And part three, “Come back and get hot,” Fleischer said. “You let your bat do the talking.”

After demonstrating he can play at a high level without PEDs, then Braun “can urge people not to make the same mistake” he did.

Fleischer said people are more willing to forgive the transgressions of sports figures than politicians.

“Fans are interested in sports stars because they want to watch their games on the field,” he said. “People still have not given up hope, although it’s become harder every day, to see elected officials in a higher and better light. We expect more from elected officials than we do from a 23-year-old jock. So if an athlete lets us down for a personal transgression, none of us likes it. But we are willing to forgive. America is a very forgiving place for those who earn it and deserve it and for those who are sincere.”


(jsonline.com)