Emmitt Smith...

[shnagy]

#9 on SportsList Athletes who hung on too long. I hate these list things, but I found this one particularly interesting. Sorry if it has been brought up before, first time I saw this one.

BTW, Willie Mays #1, Michael Jordan #2

 

[cowboyeric8]

I always hate when they say players hung on to long, if they are physically capable of playing at a level high enogh for a team to keep them on their roster more power to them. I think it would be real tough to quit a game you have your whole life based around.

I have to admit Emmitt wasn't stellar with the Cardinals, but ya'll can't deny you didn't like seeing Emmitt score a few more tds, gaining a few more yards, and showing a little juke here and there. Personally I loved it.

IMO

 

[theogt]

Tell Curtis Martin that Emmitt hung on too long.

 

[theogt]

I always hate when they say players hung on to long, if they are physically capable of playing at a level high enogh for a team to keep them on their roster more power to them. I think it would be real tough to quit a game you have your whole life based around.

I have to admit Emmitt wasn't stellar with the Cardinals, but ya'll can't deny you didn't like seeing Emmitt score a few more tds, gaining a few more yards, and showing a little juke here and there. Personally I loved it.

IMO

Hung on too long necessarily means they stayed beyond their capability. So if they are physically capable of playin at a level high enough for a team, they haven't hung on too long. Emmitt couldn't keep a starting job on the Cardinals. It was a bit too long. I understand his reasoning though.

 

[Shaun]

His last season was just fine. It wasn't what we are used to from Emmitt, but it still wasn't too bad of a season.

 

[shnagy]

I think Emmitt was still capable of getting a 1000 yards when he played for the Cards. He came pretty close that last year and he had like 9 TD's so he still had a good amount left in him. I think his problem was that he stayed injured.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

Poor guy.....

 

[TX_Yid]

The best guy to decide how long Emmitt Smith should have continued playing football is Emmitt Smith.

 

[THUMPER]

Too long for who?

The media seems to think that it is up to THEM to decide how long a player should play.

If it were me I would play for as long as someone would allow me to suit up. I would hang on for as long as possible because that time will never come again and I would want to make it last as long as I could.

That's why George Blanda played for 26 years. That's why Johnny Unitas went to San Diego. That's why so many former players wish they had played a few more years. Listen to Fran Tarkenton sometime, he played for 18 years and wished he could have played longer.

What most players miss about the game is not the paycheck but the commeraderie, being on a team with other guys. It is the relationships that most players miss when they retire.

I find it odd when a guy like Jim Brown or Barry Sanders retires at their peak because they have "nothing left to prove". If they only played the game to "prove something" then they played it for the wrong reasons IMO. Both guys tended to be loners and somewhat aloof from their teammates which explains a lot about why they were able to walk away from the game so easily.

Guys who love the game love it because of the competition and the commeraderie, the whole thing of being part of a team, having a role to play, having your teammates depend on you, celebrating a big win with them or drowning your sorrows together after a big loss.

I would watch Emmitt play flag football at the park when he's my age if I could. I still play whenever I can get a game together which is usually flag since I can't get the wimp yuppies in my area to play tackle.

My son (who is 21) loves to play so that afterwards we can talk about the game together (and to hit me of course we have some major collisions out there since we are usually the two biggest guys on the field).

I say let them play for as long as they can, I will.

 

[shnagy]

Thumper, you make some good points. I think some guys walk away early because they don't think it's worth the physical toll that it takes on the body.

Also, TX_Yid

 

[ravidubey]

Where's Brett Favre on that list?

 

[shnagy]

Where's Brett Favre on that list?

He should be moving straight up with every year that he plays.
Also, how about Bruce Smith? They didn't include him and he couldn't do anything for the Commanders.

 

[Chief]

Where's Brett Favre on that list?

:laugh2:

"What are they gonna do ... cut me?"

 

[pancakeman]

I hate this "played too long" stuff.

People think it's kind of pathetic to see a great player reduced to a good player late in his career. As opposed to a glorious finish carried out of the game on the shoulders of his teammates at his height. But isn't it more pathetic to imagine that heroic retiree sitting at home watching the game on TV when he could be playing?

 

[JackMagist]

#9 on SportsList Athletes who hung on too long. I hate these list things, but I found this one particularly interesting. Sorry if it has been brought up before, first time I saw this one.

BTW, Willie Mays #1, Michael Jordan #2

If they don't have Jerry "Mr. Perfect" Rice at the #3 spot at the very least then the list is completely bogus; he should be #1 on this list IMO.