"E:60" Athletes now must contend with paparazzi

Tue, Apr 13
3:13
PM ET

New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez understands that people want to know what is going on with athletes. "They want to see what we look like coming off a plane," he says, "see if we look as bad as everybody else, and we do."

NFL prospect Colt McCoy already is keenly aware that "you got to be on your guard all the time, no matter where you are or what you're doing, just be smart."

NASCAR's four-time Sprint Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson, knows the tabloid world is training its eye on athletes and the "magnifying glass is intensifying in the sports world."

Among the many lessons on display during the Tiger Woods sex scandal these past few months is that the tabloids, and accompanying paparazzi, aren't just in the market for pictures of celebrities like Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner. Those same tabloids and photographers have focused their attention on the likes of Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez, Reggie Bush, Lamar Odom and others -- and athletes and sports leagues are taking notice about how to handle the attention.

"Sports stars now are really the big Hollywood actors and actresses," says Gary Morgan, CEO of Splash, a paparazzi agency that started in 1990 and employs upwards of 2,000 photographers worldwide. "They're the new celebrities."

Watch the entire report on "E:60" Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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