Retiring Players

During a week of free agency and stunning trades it's easy to dismiss or miss entirely the decisions of several NFL players to end their careers. San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, Oakland Raiders running back Maurice Jones-Drew, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds, Miami Dolphins cornerback Cortland Finnegan, and Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker retired from the game that they has dominated most of their lives. The good thing is that all walked away on their own terms. Recent injuries probably played a role in the decisions of Willis and Jones-Drew but both still surprised the football world. Many players have to be hauled away from the football field. Usually age and diminishing skills make the tough decision for the players. Father time is undefeated, or so they say. Age wasn't much of a factor for these players. Finnegan is the oldest of the group at 31. Locker is the youngest at 26. Worilds is only a couple of months older than him. This is probably the largest and youngest group of NFL players to retire at the same time. Certainly the largest and youngest that I can recall.

I really don't see how anyone can criticize when or how a football player retires but some sure do. This is a very personal and often very difficult decision. No one has the right to decree that any of these now former football players were fools to walk away from the money and fame of the NFL. As a highly-sought free agent, Worilds was likely on the verge of a huge payday. Because of that many talking heads criticized his decision. Worilds decided that his religion was more important and he has the right to it. Good for him. It's his decision. No one is in a place to say that he made a mistake. These early decisions to retire might become more common. Players will decide that they, literally, want to walk away from the game. The recently improved knowledge of the hazards of the game are going to weigh more and more on the players that play it. Many may decide that they want to be able to remember their playing days when they are long removed from them. Even if that means that they will have fewer years to remember.

All of this means that we, as fans, have to appreciate more the years that we have with these incredible football players. That is especially true with a player like Patrick Willis. I just wish that he could have ended his career with a season more like his previous seven. He was one of the best at what he did that I've ever seen. Simply a great, great football player. He wasn't as flashy as Lawrence Taylor. He wasn't as easy to notice as Ray Lewis. He was a lot like I remember Jack Ham to be. A linebacker that simply and completely did everything right. Like Ham, Willis was always around the ball. He played the run as well as the pass. I'll always remember the way that Patrick Willis played football. I'll miss it too.

I thank and congratulate these retiring football players. Even Jake Locker provided us with some thrilling moments in his brief career. Hell, I wanted the Minnesota Vikings to draft him in 2011.