“I think its sad that Braun used steroids and that he lied about it. I still think hes a really good player and i still like him.”
He cheated to get an unfair competitive advantage against his fellow players. And then he lied about it. There is no way to atone for this. How many pitchers’ careers did he and his fellow steroid users ruin?
I’m not charedi. But the example of Braun, and the examples of A-Rod (which will push Braun off the front pages), Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Steve Garvey, and others’ who were lionized as heroes and proved not to be what they claimed to be shows that the charedi leaders who criticize base popular culture are 100% right. There are many great athletes who are good people. But the hero-worship that they receive is completely contrary to Torah principles. We worship HaShem, not humans, and the humans we admire are those who are exemplars of midot.
I would say this whether the athlete is Jewish or non-Jewish.