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Joel Saget / AFP - Getty Images
The cyclist's historic run of Tour de France championships made headlines, as did his fall from grace after being stripped of the titles in 2012.
Lance Armstrong's admission to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs to roll to cycling stardom puts him in some pretty bad company. After years of denying the accusations, Armstrong came clean in the Oprah interview, NBC News has confirmed. He now joins such disgraced names as Richard Nixon and John Edwards, who were exposed as liars to the American public.
Is there any way he can ever restore his once pristine reputation? Probably not. Winning back the public trust at this point would rival the Tour de France in its difficulty.
But, if Armstrong does want to try, here are six suggestions from experts on how he can try to accomplish the impossible.
1. Recede from view
After this latest round of controversy, the best thing for Armstrong to do might be to disappear for a while. Allow the public to forget about the worst accusations, said longtime crisis publicist Howard Bragman, vice chairman of Reputation.com.
“What you don’t want to do is go on an apology tour,” Bragman said. “You do one interview and you do it well, and that’s all you need to do in this day and age.”
Nailing that one interview is crucial, however, and in Armstrong’s case it’s not yet clear how it went. While Winfrey offered a teaser of her two-and-a-half hour interview Tuesday on CBS, she declined to comment on whether or not Armstrong was contrite and what exactly he revealed.
“You have to listen to your lawyers and your PR people,” Bragman said. “The question is can you listen to your lawyers and your publicists and still sound sincere enough in it.”
2. Send in the suits
NBC News, along with other outlets, has reported that Armstrong confessed to taking performance enhancing drugs in his interview with Winfrey. An admission of guilt opens up the potential for a flurry of new lawsuits against the cyclist – practically guaranteeing that he stays in the news. The key is to avoid magnifying those headlines with personal appearances. Let your army of suits do the work for you.
“You just deal,” Bragman said of headline-grabbing court action. “You show up when you have to and your lawyers when you don’t. And be prepared to spend a lot of money and a lot of energy to restore some measure of dignity to your life.”
New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica talks about Armstrong's revelation that he did take performance-enhancing drugs after years of denials, calling it a "giant athletic Ponzi scheme," and attorney Lisa Bloom discusses the legal implications.
3. Get back into charity work
Unlike other sporting legends whose public personas hit the skids, Armstrong might be able to boost himself on the merits of the prominent cancer charity he founded, but from which he has had to distance himself.
For years, Armstrong’s public persona was inseparable from the Livestrong Foundation. In October, he stepped down as chairman of the charity known for its yellow wrist bands. Yet, Armstrong remains closely tied to the group’s activities in the minds of many, and the sports star may be able to make the most of that.
ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, who is undergoing chemotherapy treatments, tweeted his continuing support for Armstrong on Monday:
“I’m 1 of millions of [cancer] survivors he’s helped. #grateful”
4. Find a crisis role model
In many ways, Armstrong’s case is unique. Unlike stars whose sexual indiscretion or predilection for dog fighting brings them down, the use of performance-enhancing drugs undermines the main reason he was in the spotlight – his athletic prowess.
“You have situations like the Tiger Woods, the Kobe Bryants, the Michael Vicks, but those to me don’t match up on this scale,” said George Belch, professor of sports marketing at San Diego State University. “This one, it’s like an octopus with its tentacles everywhere.”
Strangely, Armstrong’s path back to some measure of respectability could follow former President Richard Nixon’s after the Watergate scandal: Put your head down, go where you are needed, and grind away in your work until public opinion begins to shift.
5. Play those highlight reels
Armstrong was the face of cycling for many Americans, and to the average man or woman on a bicycle, that may be all that matters, especially when many people suspect his competitors were doping too.
Despite denials made in interviews and a deposition, legendary cyclist Lance Armstrong has come clean about using performance-enhancing drugs. NBC's Anne Thompson reports on his admission to Oprah Winfrey.
“We’re not a cycling country, we’re not cycling fans,” Belch said. “That gives him a little bit of leeway with the general public.”
Florida veterinarian Michael Herman, 55, said it was watching Armstrong pedal that got him on the bike in 2003. He rode in five Livestrong events in Austin, Texas, with Armstrong and other supporters of the charity. Despite all the controversy, Herman said he still watches videos of Armstrong’s past performances with dropped jaw.
“Lance has done very good things,” said Herman, whose said his feelings wouldn’t be changed by an admission of doping. “As far as I’m concerned he got me healthy. He got me interested in biking, and it’s now a passion.”
6. Give it time
While Armstrong may be impatient to move beyond his apparent admission of guilt, finding his way back into the public’s warm embrace will take time, said Peter Flax, editor-in-chief of Bicycling magazine.
“I think it really is going to be dependent on his commitment to the process,” Flax said.
This is just the beginning.
“Seeing how earnestly he continues to follow through with this will help decide whether he earns redemption in the public’s eye or not,” Flax said. “It’s not going to be a one-and-done thing where he cries on the couch with Oprah and everyone forgives him.”
Tune in to TODAY Friday for an exclusive live interview with Livestrong CEO Doug Ulman.
Related stories:
Oprah: Armstrong 'forthcoming' in interview about drug use
Even with mea culpa, Armstrong's brand value 'near zero'
Leave a Comment:
The only legacy he can hope to save with his admission is the one which may result from exposing doping in sports. That's it. The rest (i.e, time, lawyers, charity work) is nonsense.
I agree !!!
Get out of sight and everyone's mind. Then spill the beans behind the scenes out of sight and out of the medias eye. Also drop the macho bravado bull. Once your name is soiled like his is the public will never forgive you or trust you. Just look at Barry Bonds, the Rocket, and Pete Rose and a host of others. That is your public fate Lance. Also remember Shoeless Joe Jackson and the throwing of the world series. His name still is under that dark cloud.
hes a criminal and should be in jail. hes a bully and extremely insincere. anyone who believes hes sorry is an idiot. hes only sorry he got caught. he has no interest in exposing doping in other sports. hes only interested in figuring out how to make money again without having to get a real job. the man is a drug addicted lying loser.
heres a better idea, give us six reasons to give a @!$%#
Absolutely. Because as John Stewart pointed out last night, the only thing people like more than a liar and fraud is a snitch.
Ya, time is not going to do it. Every time this bike run comes up, there will be stories and more stories.
I know I will not forget. The guys nothing but a cheat, fraud, and frankly just a jacka*s.
I would not buy anything with guys name on it for my dog.
I may be wrong but it seems to me that since he admits doping he in fact has no legacy because his 'accomplishments' were never really his.
Exactly, he hasn't accomplished anything except cheat his peers out of chance to compete fairly and win what they could. Without the cheating, Lance was a "never was." He will forever more be linked like Bonds to cheating, like Benedict Arnold with being a traitor. No one will ever want to be compared to Lance Armstrong.
Agreed... he has no 'legacy' to recover... he pissed it away with each syringe he injected himself with, and with each lie to cover it up, and with each time he threatened somebody for exposing him.
He is a f'ing loser and needs to lose all of his money and go to jail for a few decades for fraud.
Just a way for him to get back in the spot light again. (I know I will go on Oprah) Who cares anymore.........
WHO CARES . WHO CARES. An entertainer , which is all sports is about, takes performance enhancing drugs, THEY all do , all sports people , from highschool on to pros, who cares. Name one pro who does not take performance drugs and that would be a story.
Media needs to keep congress and their lack of action on the front page, this story does not rate front page status.
Take a page out of the AA book. The first thing he needs to do is a full admission. Then he needs to apologize to everyone he hurt. Then he needs to make amends with those people he hurt. You know, like use some of his $100 million to help rebuild the lives of those he destroyed.
Anything less and his life will be a shallow failure.
You point up the worst of Lance--his happiness to destroy the lives of anyone who dared point out that the Emperor of Cycling was, figuratively, wearing no clothes. He seemed to revel in unleashing his power on anyone who dared question him, so I feel no sympathy whatever for the man...
Legacy? Here's his legacy--a thug who unleashed armies of lawyers and other assorted suits to destroy the lives of anyone who made accusations about his cycling career that turned out, in the end, to be true. How about some rehab for all the people damaged by Lance's attack dogs, hmm?...
Really? Barry Bonds comparison? The dude was nominated to the hall of fame this year! He didn't get elected but how many more attempts does he have? 10 or so? Drugs or no drugs, he will get it - just wait and see. Well, THAT would be a disgrace.
Armstrong is not the first one and certainly not the last one. He will be ok. I am sorry to see though that it was indeed true that he took PEDs.
Livestrong should separate themselves from Armstrong. I know it is his brainchild, but the story behind the charity is tainted and corrupt. His drug use may have contributed to his cancer and certainly he is no role model to hold up to cancer survivors. He cheated his way to victory and bullied others into covering or participating up his cheating. Armstrong is not someone struggling with cancer should emulate.
Armstrong defrauded the Livestrong charity and everyone who supported the charity. I just can't get past it. I just can't support the charity or purchase Nike Livestrong products. I hope that Livestrong is able to reinvent themselves as they are the real victim of Armstrong's decit.
Cheaters have a legacy? And they need to salvage it? Had it not been for doping, Armstrong would still be a nobody who never won a thing and no one would know his name. Legacy my sore butt.
Unlike Bonds and the other baseball juicers, or Marion Jones and the other track and field cheaters, Lance has a bigger problem with his public image; one which, in my opinion, he should never be able to shake: He didn't just use PEDs, he didn't just cheat to win, he cheated, lied, threatened and bullied. Lance is an egomaniac, a narcissist, and a bully. It doesn't matter if "everyone was doing it," because his legacy was built around "everyone is doping but me." His cycling persona is a myth. He cheated his way to the impossible and ruined people in due course -- teammates, reporters, other cyclists, Hell, Greg LeMond! Lance Armstrong used lawyers, threats, and intimidation the way the mob uses enforcers. Anyone who spoke against him, in a whisper or a shout, was systematically attacked. He's not just a cheater, he's a creep.
Strikingly , it seems Texas just can't keep a good reputation can it? George Bush blew the country into the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. Lied about WMD's in IRAQ. And we have Lance Armstrong who has pretty much destroyed the cycling sport and made America look shameful once again. Texas needs to stay out of the way. Texas is a big place alright. Biggest liars in the country. Don't even try to run for presidency, don't try anything. Keep your big lying southern mouths shut before you ruin what's left of this great nation. Your full of you know what down there in the south. Alot of it.
Well, I will go so far as to say that even the jackwagons are bigger in Texas...
What legacy? The man is left nothing at all. His fame was build on cheating and lies. Now all that is left is a sad sack of bones. He would have been a no-name who came close and failed.
What "legacy" does this d-bag have to save in the first place?
Aside from the cheating, fraud and lying, the guy has long been known in cycling circles as a colossal jerk.
His "legacy" is being a cheat. period.
Well, TJ, I'd add "thug" to his "legacy," myself...
If your legacy is based on lies, cheating and fraud is it actually a "legacy"? NBC seems to want to keep the fraud alive with stupid stories like this.
He could possibly have been a great cyclist, but neither he or anyone else will ever know what he could have achieved without doping, cheating and lying. The only thing cheaters prove is the recognition of their own weakness and inability to compete without an unfair advantage. From video games to professional sports, those who cheat demonstrate the lowest personal form of personal character, self delusion and selfishness. They have no honor, which is a genuine reflection of the quality of their soul.
As a human being, he was and remains a cowardly, yellow piece of sh*t who lied, bullied and used a number of legal and media tools to destroy those who spoke the truth. He fully deserves to die in the disgrace he engineered and nurtured.
Armstrong "Lies like a penny in the parking lot at the grocery store." --The Band Perry.
Lance,
Just get lost. No one cares about you any more. The only thing special about you, is how long it took to find out how you lied and cheated.
Lance: Just Go Away.
Legacy? Lance went from 7 Tours de France to 0 Tours de France. His legacy is 0. He's a cheat and a liar. That's his legacy. He'll go down with the guys in baseball that ruined the stats because of steroid use and will never get in the H.O.F.
Shorter Howard Bragman:
"The key is sincerity. If he can fake that well enough, he'll be fine."
What a tool.
How about 0 ways? Why doesn't he peddle his little bikey into the sunset and stop trying to un-lie his way back into millions. People like him are what give the human race a bad name.
Ted Kennedy murdered a woman and half the country still relished him as a deity, so what is the big deal here?
murder? I suggest that you look up the definition of the word.
What he did was manslaughter, falsification of evidence, and perjury. Very bad things, but not the same as murder.
Either way, I'm not sure what half of the country you think relished him - it was only half of the people from New England that gave a rat's ass about that drunk. Most of the rest of the people from his party in other parts of the nation respected his ability to win, but surely did not in any way worship him.
Livestrong might consider changing it's name to "Livelong" to seperate themselves.
As far as Armstrong salvaging his legacy, I think #1 in the above example is the best: Recede from view. I don't even think he should be doing Oprah or making any more public appearances of any kind. Just walk away and chalk this up to one very big, bad experience and feel lucky that he ever had the opportunities he had but threw away.
How about Lie-strong?