How far would you go?

[Troho9]

Living in the NY area there has been a lot of talk about Tiki Barber retiring and how he is actually "quitting" on his teammates. Here is a marquee player in the prime of his career throwing in the towel. Not being a huge football fan I really didn't think much of it, I mean Barry Sanders did the same thing and he is arguably one of the greatest running backs ever. I heard one ex player say in an interview that he cant believe Tiki would do this to his teammates (his family) and the fans of the NY Giants. This same player has had 60 surgeries (48 just to his knees!) and is now suffering severe arthritis in his neck and feet limiting his mobility and hampering his quality of life.

Who are we to criticize someone for making a life's decision? This is his future and his REAL family he is thinking about. How are we to know how banged up he really is? What if he has problems playing with his children because of being hit so many times in the shoulders. Imagine someone coming up to you after you decided you didn't want to do something anymore and telling you you were a quitter and you are letting millions of people down.

So I bring you these questions...when is enough? When do you end it? When are all the aches and pains not worth it anymore? When does your love and passion for the game interfere with your quality of life and your lively-hood? Obviously we are not getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions like some of these pro athletes, but we play with the same heart and passion as them, if not more. We play for the love of the game, for the competition and the camaraderie, for the locker-room banter after a game, for the road trips, the memories, for the chance to say "I played against that guy, he was sick", to play a chippy, obnoxious game only to have a few beers in the parking lot after the game with the guy you slashed in the face and who speared you in the groin...and laugh about it.

When I was 25 I thought I could play forever now I know I can't. I still love the game more than ever but I know my days are numbered.

So let me hear what you guys think, when is it time to draw the line and say its over?

[SpeedDemon]

When I was 25 I thought I could play forever now I know I can't. I still love the game more than ever but I know my days are numbered.This is about as true a statement as you're going to find. Man, it hits you hard, doesn't it?


So let me hear what you guys think, when is it time to draw the line and say its over?I will most likely not be playing this season in PIHA. A reaggrivation of a rather serious shoulder injury sidelined me near the end of last season and still is not completely ready to go. The doc says that it'll pretty much always have the potential for reinjury until I get surgery, so even if I play again I might just go on the DL a week later.

That said, I'm not ready to call it quits yet. I've recently begun working out again and my intention is to return to the Growl in the 2008 season in the type of shape I was in when I began playing MLRH in '99. However, as you pointed out, rather than pure athleticism and youth, now I've accepted the fact that luck and experience play a larger part in ensuring my health - and a whole lot of hard work.

[WMBG_GM]

Troho,

Hear ya 'bout the age baby :) Just plain not fair is it? When your young, you have all this reckless energy and no clue what to do with it. Once you get 'seasoned' a bit and know what the heck to do, the body likes to say 'nope!' a little to often....

I can't speak from personal experience on this, but from what I've seen and heard about, the smart guys get out when they can no longer live up to their own expectations of their game. (Hull, Gretzky, Jordan, Armstrong, Elway, etc etc). Sometimes they get dumb and come back only to find out they were right (ala Jordan). The not so smart hang on for that one more season of greatness even though they likely know it just ain't there. But they have convinced themselves it is. Seems like we always end up refering to them as "Man, he used to be great!" or "A young X would have made that play" etc etc. In the worst cases that last quest for glory leads to the steady decline of injuries and the painful slide into oblivion where nobody notices the retirement because the player has been on the DL for so long.

As for me, I like to think I would be one of the smart ones..... But that would be kind of out of character for me ;)