General Question: Players vs Father Time

[Mr. Scot]

Joe Thomas is retiring at a time when he was still playing at a very high level.

Ryan Kalil would probably like to do that too, but there are pretty significant questions about whether that's gonna happen.

I've long said that the vast majority of NFL players who make it to retirement stick around for at least one year too long.  It's not something I've done any sort of major analysis on, but my general sense is that this is true of at least 75-80% of all retirements.

Would you put that figure higher or lower?

Mind you, there are also guys who retire too soon. Barry Sanders is a likely example of that. And yeah, it's nice to see guys go out without the embarrassment of looking bad, but fans will always wonder what it could have been like if they had just stuck around one more season.

Would you rather see your favorite players retire on top or stick around long enough to definitively know they're finished?

[OneBadCat]

In my honest opinion I think the age thing gets thrown around here a little too often. People here think once a dude turns 28 he suddenly becomes shtty and slow and can’t play.

I think in today’s game most can play to a peak level to 31 barring injury and then you see a drop off. Excluding RBs.

Personally, I’d like to see guys play as long as they can contribute in a meaningful way and aren’t strictly padding stats.

The way Peppers is going about it would be ideal but he is also an exception. I’d still want Smitty back for one more go with us in  the slot but he would arguably be too far gone now.

Then you got candyass Drew  Brees playing for money and stat padding in the dome. He can kiss my ass.

 

Barry was classy. He dominated and left you wondering what if at the end. Great way to be remembered honestly.

[Mr. Scot]

Peppers is an interesting player to reference in the context of these questions.

I think if we heard that any other team was signing a near 40 year old defensive end, we'd all probably laugh at the idea.

[Eazy-E]

Most guys who last in the NFL do so because they truly love the game. As they get older they talk about the grinds of training camp and stuff but still do it because they love to play football. It always sucks watching a player have to give up something they love because their body breaks down on them. I will never judge someone for why they retire.

Julius Peppers for example blows my mind. I am sure the majority of the NFL is in awe of the guy. He is a freak of nature who is lucky enough to do everything at this point in his career on his own terms. Not many guys are able to play at such a high level at his age. I am sure if a guy like Steve Smith could still play at a high level he would love to be tearing up opposing team's secondaries on Sunday. Hell Jerry Rice played 20 years and was still able to walk away on his terms. Injuries suck and not everyone is lucky enough to win the freak genetics lottery.

[Mr. Scot]

Joe Thomas basically said his body just can't handle the workload anymore.

Regarding Peppers, who all remembers that crazy season when he got like two sacks all year?

[LinvilleGorge]

Sometimes you don't know you don't have it anymore - or you can't admit that you don't have it anymore - until it's painfully obvious. It sucks to see great players struggle with the unwinnable battle with Father Time, but it also sucks when you feel like you missed out on seeing continued greatness when guys walk away in their prime. Who knows, maybe guys like Megatron and Barry felt themselves losing a step and decided to hang up the cleats rather than start the inevitable downward spiral. Or, maybe Detroit just really does suck THAT bad.

[Mr. Scot]

I'd vote for Detroit sucking that bad.

I think occasionally there are players who hang it up at exactly the right time (Thomas might be one) but I'd guess the percentage of players who time that just right is ridiculously small.

[pantherclaw]

If a player is good enough to keep a starting position, then why should he retire until he is ready to?

[Mr. Scot]

2 minutes ago, pantherclaw said:

If a player is good enough to keep a starting position, then why should he retire until he is ready to?

Not saying they should. Just noting that a pretty good number of guys who believe they've got one more good year left in them wind up being wrong.

We've got a couple of guys on our team that could happen to this year.

[LinvilleGorge]

Yep, it certainly wouldn't be shocking to see guys like TD, Peppers, Olsen and/or Adams to look like a shell of their former selves this coming season. Adams being the most likely IMO of the three.

[Jangler]

2 hours ago, OneBadCat said:

 

Barry was classy. He dominated and left you wondering what if at the end. Great way to be remembered honestly.

not me, he could have played 3 more years and have 20k yrds.

[KendrickPanther]

One of the tough things in all of this is money. Accomplished, veteran players struggle to accept they aren't worth top dollar and should probably accept less money. Teams are being foolish too. When you give a 29 year old player a backloaded 5 year contract, you are asking for trouble by year 3. 

I think fanbases would be more comfortable watching their legends slow down and move into reduced roles if they weren't putting the teams in cap hell. I enjoyed the idea of a 40 year old Jerry Rice still racking up catches even if he was not a big star. I liked the idea of an old, fat, and slow Steve Smith bullying the young guys on defense.

[pantherclaw]

5 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Not saying they should. Just noting that a pretty good number of guys who believe they've got one more good year left in them wind up being wrong.

We've got a couple of guys on our team that could happen to this year.

So many uncontrolled variables go into a player having a good/bad year. 

[Cyberjag]

Look at Jordan Gross after he retired--the pounds melted off.  These guys have to go through a lot all year round to maintain their size and strength.  I think that part plays into Thomas' decision.

Someone like Kalil is probably not willing to go out on an injury-filled note if that can be avoided.  I bet he wants just one more good season, and think he has it in him.