Crying like a 2-year old who just got their favorite blanket used as a mat for the family dog to have its babies on, most retiring athletes end up whining about having regrets about leaving the game, feeling that they still had so much to accomplish, missing their other family. Blahblahblah. The truth is even more sad: the games have left them so irreparably harmed that they can't remember their own names, no less recall where they live, or why they are even there.
Take Kurt Warner, for example. His last interview was so convoluted and obscure with references that even Dennis Miller and Wikipedia went "WTF?" 4 concussions later, he's still trying to figure out the difference between an outpattern, and an outhouse - rumor abound about a St. Louis game when he got hit with his 3 concussion, and proceeded to wet himself due to the violence of the hit.
Today's Must Reads
Troy Aikman, whose legacy was tainted by the end of his career with so many concussions that the Vegas over/under odds makers were betting on how many brain cells would be left at season's end: my favorite story about him was at the end of his career, he got sacked by some 3rd rate linebacker who snuck through a depleted offensive line. The Hall of Fame QB was bent over on all fours on the field, looking for his contacts that seemed to have 'popped out': unfortunately for Troy, he had the LASIK surgery earlier that year, and didn't have any contacts in when he was playing.
It's those kind of stories these that makes me wonder: should we have an intervention for player whose prime has-passed? An Athletes Anonymous sort of meeting where we introduce ourselves, wear bracelets showing how long we've been 'clean' from sports? Do we look at the has-beens with shame and regret, like the once great high-school athlete who still wears his now undersized school jacket to all the home games, to support 'the team': time to let it go, guy, and move onto greener pastures......then shot by your home fans.
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