I find it interesting that you ignore allegations against LA because they haven't been proven to be true, but you condemn MJ over allegations that he was declared to be not guilty of.Which allegations? That he cheated on his wife, I believe them. That he survived cancer, I believe them. That he ever took performance enhancing drugs, he has never been charged by any recognized cycling agency of failing a drug test. This is despite being the most tested athlete on the face of the Earth for most of his tour wins. The day Lance fails a drug test I will cease to be a fan point blank. The day Lance is accused of molesting a child and then pays the parents off I will cease to be a fan. Luckily, the UCI has very strict drug policies so there is little question of guilt or innocence.
I understand where you are coming from, however. Lance Armstrong seems pretty normal while Michael Jackson seemed to be kind of a freak. Therefore, you overlook Armstrong's faults and concentrate on the good that he does while at the same time you concentrate on the allegations against Jackson even though he was found not guilty and ignore the good that he did. What you are doing is human nature and totally normal. We all are programmed to believe that 'normal' is good and 'abnormal' is bad and we color our perceptions about everything in life based on that.
To the thread's actual topic:
It is completely normal and healthy to have role models. Steve McNair was a good quarterback, so it's normal and healthy for kids to want to play football like he did. However, you wouldn't want you kid emulating his personal life, would you? Of course not. When we pick role models, we are not emulating 'whole humans' we are emulating specific characteristics that we admire in individuals.