Retirement: Don't Believe The Hype

When an athlete is nearing the end of his career, he must consider how and when he retires. Brett Favre has considered this for the last half a dozen years or so, and he still seems not to have it down.

So the question comes to mind: How should a pro athlete handle his retirement? 

To start things off easily, not how Favre is doing it. In fact, he might be doing the worst job in the history of professional sports. You must consider just how popular this guy has been and how seemingly invincible his reputation was destined to be.

It seemed like nothing could touch the guy. This is a man who battled an addiction to prescription drugs and people bow at his feet and worship him, and he lets himself and his character be destroyed by his retirement? It's unfathomable. 

So how should an athlete handle retirement? I believe it is one main thing. A players will to play. That's all that should matter. Not how well he plays. Not about him not being wanted.

He must retire on his own terms, when he truly wants to. It would be horrible for a guy to be forced into retirement in any profession, but it inevitably happens. My feelings on this bring me to the opposite end of the spectrum, players leaving the game on top, when they have gas left in the tank.

I tremendously respect guys who can do this because I can't imagine how hard it would be to leave when you still are so talented. Guys who can do this, like Barry Sanders, mind-boggle me because how hard it must will yourself to quit something you've been doing, at a high level, for most of your life.

It must be hard because it is so rare to truly stay away. Michael Jordan couldn't stay away. Favre couldn't push himself to stay away years ago, and still can't. 

I don't think an athlete should care about playing too long and stretching himself out. It's his prerogative to play, and if a team is willing to give him a role, more power to him. You have to consider the short shelf life of pro athletes compared to any other profession.

You can safely assume an athlete, not including unique sports like golf, will be done by 45. You are at your prime at 45 in nearly any other profession. These athletes still have decades to live, let them stretch their careers out a little while and enjoy themselves.

Before I move on, I want to add a caveat about the Favre situation. As everyone well knows, there's exceptions to every rule. I would normally say that if a player wants to still play he should, but not in Favre's case. Here's why. 

Brett Favre is almost above football. If he left the Packers, which it looks like would have to be the case if he wants to start this year, it would create a maelstrom in the NFL community.

Can you imagine Brett Favre on a different team? He IS the Green Bay Packers. He owns that town. They would be devastated if he left. Brett must realize how big of an impact he makes to his fans and come to acknowledge how much damage he would do if he played somewhere else. He is an exception because of just how big he is. 

Now, what guys should hang up the cleats already? Well, I would have some suspicions, but I can't say for sure because I can't look in a player's mind. They only know themselves if they have lost the passion for the game, which would mean that if would be best if they walked away.

A guy like Richie Sexson is one who seems to have lost the passion, as evidenced by his recent quotes. Ricky Williams, a guy seemingly only playing to keep his bonus, and laughably the longest tenured player on the Dolphins now, should be gone. Others too have no doubt lost the passion, but we just don't know about it. 

I guess we will stay tuned.