Dear Aging Quarterbacks, Please Just Retire (Except You Tom Brady)
(screenshot via ftw.usatoday.com)
Okay, I know this may not be the perfect time to be writing about this with Tom Brady entering his 150th Super Bowl, but I just have to get this off my chest.
After I heard that Ben Roethlisberger said that he will probably come back all I could think was... why? Big Ben sucked this year and wasn’t entertaining to watch in the slightest. Sure, he’s better than Mason Rudolph, but that isn’t saying much considering Ben DiNucci would be more entertaining than Rudolph.
Do Steelers fans really want to see him again? If so… why?
Big Ben is another aging legend to add to the list of guys that are sticking around just a little bit longer than they should. Frankly, I’m tired of this. These guys stay in the league for so long that they become awful to watch.
Anyone else remember Peyton Manning’s last season? Yeah he won a Super Bowl, but that defense won it for him and not to mention he made out with Papa John when it was all said and done.
Peyton’s dumb-faced little brother even stuck around a little bit longer than he should have. The guy got benched by Geno Smith at one point for crying out loud, and it was pretty obvious that he was on the decline for his last three seasons.
As much as I love the guy, Drew Brees should not have even played this year. “OH MY GOD IS THAT ANOTHER SCREEN PASS TO KAMARA? HELL YEAH!” said no NFL fan (except for Kamara fantasy owners of course).
Seriously, Brees should’ve just said, “fuck it the ribs were a season ending injury I’m done,” to save the world from watching the ghost of his former self throw turds against the Bucs.
I know the other guy throwing passes in that game refutes my argument here, but there are always exceptions to every rule and Brady has made his body a temple with the TB12 diet.
Also, Brady hasn’t shown serious signs of regression. He isn’t what he once was, but he can clearly still play. I’m saying that for the guys who clearly don’t have half of their arm strength like Big Ben should please just go away.
Aging QB’s in the future should just take a look at Phillip Rivers. He knew his arm was declining and took one more shot. He played decently, but wasn’t the same player as he once was so he hung up the cleats and did so admirably.
A part of me feels I may be thinking too harshly because in some ways these guys earned to stick around as long as they want, but the other side of me is screaming that they don’t. The NFL is an entertainment business and if what you have done for me lately isn’t satisfactory then I think you should just start collecting your pensions.