Jump to full article: Electronic Telegraph (uk), 2008-06-26
Author: Steve Wilson
Intro: Pictures of the England player having a crafty pool-side wheeze on a cigarette are bound to dismay Ferguson.
This, of course, is not the first time Rooney's vices have courted media attention, but the sight of one of the country's leading professional sportsmen sucking on a cancer stick is likely to baffle as much as disappoint.
Surely, the casual viewer might think, if your livelihood depends upon good health as well as natural talent, to risk it for a nicotine hit makes no sense. . . .
Such is his media profile that Rooney is likely to come in for stern criticism for his habit. Fair or not, Rooney is charged by many to be a role model for his adoring young fans.
And, surely, smoking is incompatible with a successful career as a footballer. Well, not quite. Though smoking rates amongst footballers are lower than the general population it is still prevalent.
Rooney is on his honeymoon and generous observers might suggest that he could be forgiven a relaxing drag after certain exertions. . . .
Whilst at Liverpool he smoked freely, as did his colleagues, on the team bus and in the players lounge - no one complained.
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