Long story short: NFL running back, Rashard Mendenhall retires. He’s 26-years old, which is still considered young enough in NFL age, but has a lot of methodical reasons for walking away regardless.
It doesn’t really matter what sport it is, I always have this sense of admiration for guys who walk away when they really didn’t have to, and walk away on their own terms. Maybe it’s the fact that in present time, professional sports are put on such an insurmountable pedestal, and there’s something about a professional athlete looking at their respective league and saying “nah, I don’t need you anymore,” that brings it down a peg or two. Or maybe it’s the fact that they simply don’t see professional sport and the riches it can provide as a true means to an end, and that they can live their lives without it that seems somewhat admirable. Either way, when guys retire on their own terms, most of the time I’m in agreement and respect their decisions.
Rashard Mendenhall is no exception. I only ever really knew his name, because I found his name unique because I worked with a woman whose last name was Mendenhall at one point. I rooted against Mendenhall and the Steelers in the 2008 Super Bowl, because who didn’t want to see the Arizona Cardinals pull off the impossible and actually win the Super Bowl? And I was never really a Steelers fan in general, because the Steelers and their obnoxiously dedicated fanbase were always considered somewhat insufferable in my opinion, and then I pretty much stopped caring about the NFL in general, because professional football itself was turning into something that I just don’t really care for.
But in his departure, and from his words, I can say that I’m a fan of Rashard Mendenhall’s now, and it’s somewhat of a pity that he’s retiring, because I can’t root for anything he’ll do on the field anymore.
I like just about every aspect of Mendenhall’s retirement. For starters, he’s 26-years old, which is still considered young in NFL years. If not for an ailing knee injury, he could very easily probably get a job somewhere in the league, and make at least a minimum salary, which is a relative term, because a minimum salary in the NFL is still around half a million dollars. But nope, the money isn’t worth the baggage that comes along with being an NFL player, where he feels that he can never let his guard down, has to always be somewhat “on,” and seems like no matter what good he tries to do, portray, or be, there is always an endless mob of people who will hate and affect him and those around him for absolute irrational things like the team he plays for, or the color of his skin, and other irrelevant factors.
What I like the most is that he pretty much calls the NFL out for having turned into something that’s not as much football as it should be. That there’s way too much emphasis on stuff like magnetic personalities, the stars of the game, and the entertainment aspect, versus the game itself. Sure, I get that those things have an impact on interest and fan interaction, but when the day is over, the final score is ultimately all that matters. The glorification of touchdown dances, celebrating after a play, or what so-and-so player said on Twitter on Tuesday shouldn’t matter as much as the attention it warrants today.
Everything Rashard Mendenhall said about what less-than-positive thing the NFL has become today, is something that I’ve thought of before myself, but the difference is that Mendenhall being somewhat notable of a player, can actually be heard, which makes me feel in a way that I can too.
Mendenhall’s going to be just fine, in spite of the notion that he’s leaving millions of dollars on the table, retiring so early. He’s been around for six seasons, and even if he was literally making league minimum in all six of those years, a smart person will be able to run with that kind of money to live out a fairly normal life. He’s a college graduate, and supposedly has a degree in sports management, so watch him probably get into the game of being an agent or something on the side, and make decent money, without sacrificing his body any further. And on that note, leaving at 26 means that he’s not going to have to wreck his body any further, and doesn’t have to be getting hammered by overzealous Ravens or New England defenses any more.
Ultimately, Mendenhall really had nothing to prove; he has his ring, he’s made some money, and there’s nothing else for him to prove in a league he’s clearly grown to not like as much as he used to. So all that being said, why bother sticking around? I may not have been a fan of Rashard Mendenhall the running back, but going out in the style he did, I can say that I’m a fan of Rashard Mendenhall the person.
