Every athlete knows when they are competing that one day– their athletic career will be over. Whether it is by choice or not (ex. injury), that day will come at different times for different athletes. Some take every opportunity to enjoy their time as an athlete, while others do not embrace the possibility that they might have to move on to other aspects of life and not be known as a high profile athlete anymore. There are many examples of athletes that have embraced this and moved on to other professions (teaching, coaching, graduate school, broadcasting, etc), but others don’t. Brett Favre is back in the news again for announcing that he is going to retire after 18 seasons in the NFL. What a minute? Is it Groundhog Day, because I haven’t we heard this same line before? Favre is quoted in stating the following:
“I have family and friends who are like, ‘All right, Brett. Is this the real deal?’ To me, it is. It is. Believe me. It’s been a wonderful career, I couldn’t ask for anything more. It was worth a shot for me to go to New York. I wish I could’ve played better down the stretch. I didn’t. It’s time to leave.”
Every athlete wants to end their athletic career on a high note, and this goes to show what happens when athletes just don’t know when to put up their shoes and say, wow– that was fun– but it’s time to move on. I believe that Favre shoudl have stayed retired after his time with the Green Bay Packers. It just seems now that he will be remembered as the guy that went and “retired,” came back, and didn’t finish his athletic career the way that you wanted. My Dad always said to me in athletics– it doesn’t matter how you begin, but how you finish your career. I agree– and I think that Favre is wishing at the moment that he stayed retired because he reputation and brand image was very positive as the Green Bay Packers quarterback. Now, his overall presence in the football community and media has not been the same since he came out of “retirement.” It may have been different if he came out of retirement and went BACK to the Green Bay Packers, but with the whole situation with the New York Jets, it really tool a toll on his personal brand and reputation among his fans and others.
I had the opportunity to compete for three universities (SMU, Florida, and USC), and I felt that my year at USC was my second chance at track and field to finish my college career as a trackand field athlete. It was a great experience, and I remember my last competition was at the USATF National Track meet in Indiana, and walking off the field thinking “Wow, ten years of being a track and field athlete– that was fun” and took the first step in moving on to the next chapter of my life. The next chapter included finishing my Master’s degree in PR at USC, starting Jenny Craig and losing my throwing weight (85 lbs and counting), going and working in PR in South Africa, and going to the University of Tennessee for my Ph.D.
Sure, there are times where I look at my medals and pictures from track in my photo albums and I am like–wow, did I do that? In many ways, it seems like so much time has passed by since then. I will always cherish the memories of track and field because it has helped shape me into the person that I am today. But I always knew that I was going to have to invest in my education when the time came to hang up the throwing shoes and put the shot put on the mantel.
These are just a few of my thoughts. Hope you all are having a great day! 🙂
Best Wishes,
Karen
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