Yes, I agree 100%. Even with professional sports, we are seeing a particular persona put forward for marketing purposes. Maybe not so much with less commercial "skill" sports (for example, people running marathons in the Olympics) but definitely with commercial enterprises like the NFL. At the end of the day the point is to entertain the audience and make a lot of money doing it...and that requires promoting particular people on the teams, sharing their background stories, making them seem likable and relatable, etc.

There are other celebrities I like too...men and women...for example, like many women my age I like Taylor Swift as a musician and performer...I don't have a "crush" on her and I couldn't tell you what she is like in real life, her music just resonates with me.