(Not) Knowing when to Quit

I see 41 year-old Brett Favre is back for ANOTHER season… This man is playing years beyond the average NFL career. I wonder why he keeps returning. He already has a Super Bowl ring, tons of cash, nice house, and several cars I imagine… I mean, he’s set for life. So why does he return and face the punishment that an NFL quarterback is bound to take? Is the fame and adulation that intoxicating? With my 2 ounces of athletic ability, I’ll never know. One bad hit is all it takes to end it all anyway, like in Michael Irvin’s case (by the way, I have an interesting story Michael Irvin story I will post soon).

I vaguely remember George Blanda, a QB and kicker for the Raiders and several other teams. He was the oldest man to play in the NFL… He played until he was 48! However, he went from starter to backup, and the last few years of his career were strictly as a kicker.



Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, even Emmitt Smith… They all squeezed extra years past their glory days .

Many boxers don’t know when to quit. I hear a lot of them can’t afford to though, due to bad handling of their finances. That happened to George Foreman. Look (or try to listen) to Muhammed Ali nowadays… It’s pretty obvious he didn’t know when to quit. Roberto Duran, Larry Holmes, even Oscar Dela Hoya should have hung it up before he finally did.

Nolan Ryan didn’t know when to quit. I remember watching his last game on TV. He was pitching In Seattle and was getting shelled, then a ligament tore in his arm. He never pitched again. Granted, he was trying to finish the year out and retire afterwards, but his body said, “Enough already.”



What Dallas (or Minnesota) Stars fan is ready to see Mike Modano in a Detroit Redwings uniform next year? He’s spent over 20 years in the Stars organization!