Legends should learn from Warner’s example
Jonathon Smith
The Kurt Warner era is officially over for the Cardinals (barring some ridiculous Brett Favre stunt; more on that shortly).
Warner, known for his quick release, lived up to that in the best possible way. He made his decision before Super Bowl week to avoid all of the unnecessary attention during the festivities.
Many fans are left asking why he chose to retire with a year left on his contract. Clearly he was still playing at the top of his game, and anyone who watched the Green Bay game in the first round of the playoffs can attest to that.
But Warner is too smart. He left when the going was good.
Surely he would love another Super Bowl win, and Warner would probably be every bit as good next year, but nothing is certain.
That’s the whole point. In the NFL, anything can happen.
When teammate Anquan Boldin was taken off the field on a stretcher in 2008, Warner was extremely shaken up. That has probably been in the back of his mind for quite awhile.
The Cardinals’ last game against the Saints was most likely the nail in the coffin. Warner was blindsided and had to be taken to the locker room. He did return to play the second half, but something tells me that hit left him mentally scarred.
Warner had a number of concussions in his career and the danger continues to escalate with each impact.
He understands there is more to life after football, and his body is getting old. He has made the decision to dedicate more time to his family.
In an interview with ESPN, Warner said, “Every day I come home and it doesn’t matter if you won or lost or have thrown touchdowns or interceptions, the one thing that I always knew is that when I entered that door, when I stepped in our house, that none of that mattered to these guys. I can’t tell you how much of a blessing that is.”
At age 47, long after most retire from contact sports, Herschel Walker recently made his Mixed Martial Arts debut.
No golfing for this guy.
Tennis won’t cut it either.
The man is a freak-of-nature and if anyone has a chance to succeed in the sport at 47, it’s Walker. His workout regimen is borderline psychotic. Teammates were in awe of his work ethic which included a daily routine of 2000 push-ups, 3000 sit-ups, and 1000 dips.
MMA isn’t about brute strength and athleticism though. A fighter must be skilled in a number of different fighting styles.
Walker does boast a fifth-degree black belt in taekwondo, but a fight is much more dynamic than any single art. Most fighters are trained in multiple arts for many years. Walker has only been training beyond his one martial art for ten weeks.
Typically, taekwondo has not translated well into MMA. The discipline teaches powerful striking skills, but most fights end up on the ground. Wrestling and grappling are not heavily explored in the martial art and these skills are very technical and take years to master.
Walker’s window of opportunity is closing. If he were to spend the amount of time necessary to truly succeed in the sport, he would be far too old to compete.
His freak athleticism allowed him to overcome his lack of training against a much weaker opponent in Greg Nagy, but he has a lot of work to do in order to succeed at the highest level.
He fought an opponent in the Strikeforce circuit with only two fights under his belt. Strikeforce is a respectable organization that ranks second only to UFC, but the level of competition that he faced pales in comparison to the elite fighters.
Which begs the question, why is Walker doing it?
He says he wanted to prove to himself that he can compete. Hopefully he has done that already.
As good as Walker did in his debut, it was obvious he has much to learn. Despite a clear athletic advantage, he struggled to finish the fight, due largely to his inefficient groundwork.
He hasn’t decided if he will fight again, but hopefully this victory satisfied his appetite for competition. Trying to climb the ladder in this sport is a death sentence for someone his age.
Brett Favre is a lock for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That’s if he ever retires.
Sure he still has the arm, but so does Warner. Yes, he can still win games, but so can Warner.
The difference between them is that Warner knew how to exit the game with grace.
Favre had one of the greatest quarterback legacies in the history of the NFL with the Green Bay Packers. It makes absolutely no sense why he would play for their bitter rival in the final year(s?) of his career.
When the decision to retire was made, he should have stuck with it and walked away a Green Bay Packer.
Favre has nothing left to prove either.
The risk at 40 is just not worth the reward. Aging bodies are simply not meant to undergo the impacts of football.
Good luck to Brett Favre and Herschel Walker if they choose to continue, but thank-you Kurt Warner, for showing how it’s done.
