In a professional athlete’s career, there comes a time that it is all over. You get too fatigued when you go to practice, and the same routine every day gets old. The only question is, when is that time? When does a player say to him or herself, “This season will be my last season. I am going to retire."
There is no set age a sportsperson must stop playing the game they have put their blood, sweat and tears into, but all athletes know when “There is no more gas left in the tank.” A perfect example of that is hall of fame quarterback Brett Farve.
If you are completely oblivious and have no idea who this legendary icon is, you may recognize him from commercials, such as Copper Fit, Microtouch and, the most known of them all, Wrangler Jeans. Brett Farve was the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers for the majority of his career, but also played for Atlanta, Minnesota and New York. Brett Farve’s retirement has quite the story behind it as speculation of his withdrawal from the NFL came about in 2006. It was reported that he had contemplated retirement that season, but he ultimately decided his time in the NFL was not up yet. Farve then played three more seasons as a professional before calling it quits. His final season in the NFL was the 2009-2010 season with Minnesota Vikings. He was 40 years old and still “tossed the pigskin” for over 4,000 yards.
On the other hand, you have guys that do not know when it is time for them to take a step down from the big time. A prime example of someone who didn’t and still hasn’t backed off yet goes by the name of Tiger Woods. Woods is a professional golfer and in preceding years, he has been a very big success. Tiger joined the PGA tour in 1996 and has won 18 world golf championships (in addition to 14 major golf championships since). Despite the fact that Tiger Woods was very prosperous early on in his career, lately he has been rehabilitating from a back injury that keeps returning to haunt him. This back problem has been going on for approximately three years now and has broken his game into bits and pieces. The only question left to ask is, “Is it time for Tiger Woods to retire?”
Like I said earlier, there is no set time for a professional athlete to retire and give up their passion, but they need to know when there is no more fuel in the tank. Brett Farve retired before he could get hurt, and I believe that Tiger Woods should do the same. What do you think?
