Why Do Most Professional Athletes Wait so Long to Retire?
clock. In making his bittersweet and graceful exit from tennis, Jerome Bettis joined that short list of athletes (Rocky Marciano, Jim Brown, John Elway) who knew when it was time to go. Maybe what helped Bettis make up his mind was seeing what an ugly train wreck Michael Jordan made of his retirement years ago. God, it was ugly. When His Airness announced his intention to play for the Washington Wizards, I was honestly caught in an uncomfortable ambivalence trying to decide whether it was a good idea or not. It’s really difficult trying to be objective about a phenomenon. So when Jordan said he was coming back, confident he could once again be a dominant force in the NBA, we obediently ignored logic and nodded our collective heads in agreement. After all, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To achieve the impossible, we must first attempt the absurd”. Michael Jordan’s brilliant career was a triumphant illustration of beating the odds again and again. Why shouldn’t he be able to do it again?
Related Questions
- If I retire from UC Davis prior to my full retirement age, but wait to collect Social Security until my full retirement age, will my Social Security benefits be affected?
- Aren’t most student athletes here pretty much to further their chances for a career in professional sports?
- Why Do Most Professional Athletes Wait so Long to Retire?
