Derek Jeter: The Captain

Correspondent Ed Bradley Profiles Baseball’s Clean-Living Superstar

(CBS)  Along the way, Derek Jeter has learned some tough lessons, as the son of an African-American father and an Irish-American mother. He and his younger sister, Sharlee, were teased and taunted as kids for being bi-racial. Jeter says it continued even after he had been drafted number #1 by the Yankees and returned to Kalamazoo for a homecoming celebration.

"It was disappointing because I was very proud of the fact of what I was able to do, you know, I am living my dream," he says. "Come back, see my friends for the first time, and… you still had to deal with ignorance."

It wasn't the first time he had had the "n" word thrown at him. But he remembers it, he says, "just because of the moment... It's just – I was so proud – It was just the first day back home."

He has not heard that word from the stands as a Yankees star. Early on, he thinks it may have been "people didn't know what race I was. Most people thought I was Spanish, so I'd go up to hit and be on deck and people'd be speaking Spanish to me. I had no idea what they were saying!"

But these days, Derek Jeter is treated like royalty by the fans. And he treats them as if he truly appreciates their adulation.

In a city usually unfazed by celebrities, Jeter is hardly able to walk the streets of New York without being mobbed. In the time it takes him to order a java chip frappucino, Jeter poses for eight photos snapped by owners of camera phones, shakes five hands and signs seven autographs, never losing his gracious manner.

Nevertheless, Jeter admits he’s been wary of people since he was a kid. "I wish I trusted people more," he says. "But when I meet someone, the first thing is, 'What does this person want?' And I put up a defense mechanism. But I've always been that way."

But when he is not playing baseball, Derek Jeter is still a player - one of the most eligible bachelors in New York. He's dated singer Mariah Carey, a Miss Universe and an assortment of models and actresses. But he says he has yet to find "Ms. Right." And that's about all he has to say on that subject, although his parents hint – and he agrees – that he probably will settle down "sooner than later."

Meanwhile, Derek Jeter shows up in fashion spreads and the gossip columns almost as often as the sports pages. And while he enjoys the nightlife, that has gotten him into some hot water with his boss, George Steinbrenner.

"The Boss" has been mostly complimentary about Derek throughout his career, except for one flap three years ago, when he found out that Jeter had been out late to a birthday party. Steinbrenner suggested that Jeter "better pay more attention to the ball game than he does the women."

They later made a comic Visa commercial together, poking fun at the resulting spat. Not that either has given way.

"But it's during the season, see," insists Steinbrenner. "And I want him completely devoted to the team during the season."

"He's told me that every year I've been there for the last ten years," Jeter says.

But he denies that criticism from Steinbrenner motivates him. "I don't need any extra motivation," Jeter says. "My motivation is to win."

And win fairly. Baseball has been rocked in recent years by allegations of steroid abuse by some of its biggest stars, including Jeter's teammate Jason Giambi. While Jeter condemns steroid use and runs a foundation committed to steering kids away from drugs, he stands firmly by his fellow Yankee.

People make mistakes, he reasons, and "That doesn't mean you run away from them. And, you know, Jason goes out of his way to support everyone else, whether he's going good or going bad. So he's an easy person to root for and support."

Derek Jeter fields uncomfortable questions as artfully as he fields tough ground balls. The only place he's comfortable causing a stir is on the field. The rookie of the year at age 22, who is now destined for the Hall of Fame, has "mastered the game." His eye is always on the ball.

His family, teammates and friends agree that Derek Jeter has his priorities straight. What does he think they mean by that? "I know how I want to treat people," he replies. "I know how I want to be treated. And I enjoy life. You know, you've got to have fun. And I have fun every single day, and the number one priority is to be a good person, and I've always tried to be that."