Perfect 10

More money, more privilege, more scrutiny, more sycophants--the onramp to the high road is fraught with distraction, if not outright disaster, for today’s young professional athlete.

“These guys are being pampered, they’re being told at every turn just how great they are and how they can’t do any wrong, they’re being wined and dined, women are all over them,” says Russell Gough, an associate professor of philosophy and ethics at Pepperdine and a specialist in the field of sports ethics.

“Someone would truly have to have extraordinary character to deal with the pressures and the temptations that surround today’s professional athlete . . . That’s why when you get a professional athlete who has an extraordinary attitude and is still humble and nice toward others, you’re really talking about a tremendous role model.

“And, in a sense, they’re to be looked up to even more and praised even more because they’re fighting much greater odds, much greater pressures, much greater temptation than the athletes of old.”

A short list of 10 contemporary professional athletes, all under 30, who make the grade:

ROB BLAKE

A pillar of stability still standing on the quivering fault line that is King hockey, Blake is playing for his fifth coach, fourth general manager and third ownership group--and doesn’t turn 30 until December. The embodiment of the “good-in-the-room” NHL team leader, Blake never got out when the getting was good--unlike Wayne Gretzky--and hung in with the never-ending rebuilding program long enough to become the first King to win the Norris Trophy for best defenseman.

TERRELL DAVIS

The Sporting News rates him the best player in the NFL today--and he played his college ball at . . . Long Beach State? And then, after transferring to Georgia, he wasn’t drafted until . . . the sixth round?

A self-made superstar who lends his name to local charity causes, he moved his mom from San Diego to Denver so he could visit her more regularly. Bronco fans still in mourning over his season-ending knee injury.

TIM DUNCAN

The argument against the charge that no one plays fundamental basketball in the NBA anymore. A 7-footer who can square up and make an 18-foot jump shot, box out the way it is diagramed in the textbook, even use the glass (!) for bank shots that look as if they have been time-transported from 1967. No Bill Walton when it comes to the media--Duncan is not a man of many words--but the games look very much the same.

DEREK FISHER

What’s this--a late-1990s Laker who gets the most out of his ability? Who actually overachieves? Who never dogs it, and has the nightly knee abrasions to prove it?

“The fans love his game,” Laker publicist John Black says. “And he’s one of the nicest guys in the world. If you saw him in the locker room, you’d think he was the ball boy and the ball boy was an NBA superstar. That’s the way he treats everybody.”

NOMAR GARCIAPARRA

“I could name 30 guys playing now who could play during Ty Cobb’s era,” Angel third base coach Larry Bowa says. “I could also name 300 guys who’d have no chance of playing back then.”

Garciaparra, the American League rookie of the year in 1997 and possible most valuable player in 1999, makes Bowa’s old-school 30.

“Garciaparra’s always out there early, working hard, taking ground balls, not cutting it short. I like to see guys who work at their trade,” Bowa says.

GRANT HILL

All the right moves, on and off the court. Perhaps the most accessible superstar of his generation. Handed the torch from Michael Jordan when His Airness retired in January, but the official coronation won’t happen until the Pistons start returning to the NBA finals. Lacking only one thing: Isiah Thomas’ supporting cast.

DEREK JETER

George Steinbrenner compares him to Jack Armstrong and Frank Merriwell. Gay Talese refrains from comparing him to Joe DiMaggio because DiMaggio “had no manners” and Jeter is notoriously polite. The rare New York superstar who doesn’t covet the spotlight and yet, at only 25, seems completely at ease within it.

PEYTON MANNING

And to think, 18 months ago, there were many who criticized the Indianapolis Colts for drafting Manning instead of Ryan Leaf. One of the most scrutinized athletes of his era--son of Archie, spent four years in the University of Tennessee fish bowl, thrust into the Colts’ starting lineup immediately--and never buckled once. Already a fan favorite in Indianapolis. It’s early, but Manning has a chance to become the Colts’ most popular quarterback since the one named Unitas.

TEEMU SELANNE

The NHL’s best (only?) candidate to replace Gretzky as the game’s No. 1 goodwill ambassador. A prodigious talent who led the league in goals last season, Selanne always has time for fans and media, with a personality so incandescent, teammate Paul Kariya has begun to see the light and emerge from his media-wary shell.

RICKY WILLIAMS

A modern-day anomaly: A professional athlete criticized for signing too poor a contract. Williams’ agreement with the New Orleans Saints--a base salary barely over the NFL minimum, with more than $57 million tied up in difficult-to-achieve performance bonuses--has been derided as folly.

Rather than shift blame to his agent, however, Williams took the hit himself.

“I wanted to be fair,” Williams says. “I wanted to earn my money.”