Open Mic: Retirement: A Four-Letter Word?

Retirement, for those of us in civilian life, is a stage of life that one attends after decades of hard work.  One can imagine time with the grandchildren, trips abroad, leisurely reading, or even a hobby.  In today's economic climate, one also imagines struggles with the insurance and/or the medical industry.  However, for those in the sports world, deciding how and when to retire tends to be less mundane and yet more difficult.  In fact, retirement today for top pro athletes is fraught with second-guessing, team pressures, and endless media coverage.

Being a professional athlete requires a type of commitment, both physical and mental, that is rivaled by few careers in the United States and abroad.  Your job, for as long as you are part of a team, is to be in the best physical and mental shape to perform your tasks on the field, pitch, ice, court, etc.  You have to prepare, constantly, for the next game, the next team, the next play.  You have to be vary of sycophants and groupies trying to take your money or time. 

This preparation and wariness occurs throughout one's career.  In addition, an athlete will play through pain, play while on painkillers, and even play quickly after surgeries.  It is unfathomable to the average person what kind of mental and physical commitment it takes to be a pro athlete.  And the prize, after the years of playing, is sometimes crippling ailments and, if one is not careful, financial hardships.  Now, in this time of $4 dollar gasoline it's difficult for your writer to discuss the financial hardships of millionaire ball players.  But they do occur.  And the life-long damages to the body and mind can be real.  In particular, NFL players tend to have greatly shortened life spans because of the violence and injuries that occur in the game.

After all this commitment and a lifetime of dedication, some atheletes cannot simply walk out the door.  They have to be pushed.  The problem is that pro atheletes retire at an age where most of us in the non-sports world are just hitting our stride in careers.  They have decades ahead of them after retirement and have no idea how to fill the time.  All they know is the field and the team.  The other issue is the god-like celebrity status that sports figures have attained in our modern sports media world. 

If I'm in my mid-30's and have been a pro athlete since my early 20's, I have known nothing but fame and fortune for over a decade.  That, in itself, can be addicting.  Who wouldn't want to continue to live in the world of suspended adolescence that is the life a sports star?  It's a magical life.  However, some athletes get it, and retire at the right time.  Tiki Barber is one of them.  His retirement was done in a way that allowed for grace, dignity, and a minimum of distractions for the team (now during

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