PDA

View Full Version : Calling It Quits



TXBRONC
05-12-2008, 08:21 PM
I saw this article in the RMN and thought you all might enjoy reading it. Yes it's melancholy but it's still a very good article.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/12/krieger-calling-it-quits-never-easy/

KRIEGER: Calling it quits never easy
By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Monday, May 12, 2008

From a distance, it's always so easy.

Jerry Rice? Hang 'em up!

M.J.? Don't come back!

It's fun to conduct other people's careers for them, especially famous people. It's a vicarious thrill, like telling a rich guy how to spend his money.

It's a little harder up close. Harder to tell John Lynch he can't cover anymore when he and his wife, Linda, are handing out awards and scholarships to young achievers in his adopted home, doing just what we always say we wish athletes would do.

Harder to tell Rod Smith he can't get open anymore when he's giving his face and name to the Broncos blood drive or demonstrating every day what it means to be a team player.

Harder to tell Joe Sakic he's about to turn 39 as he and Debbie plan their annual August shindig to benefit Food Bank of the Rockies (this year featuring comedian Josh Blue).

Harder even to tell Peter Forsberg his troublesome right foot is more of a pain to us than to him, remembering him raising money for the Denver Children's Advocacy Center.

Rewarding kids who do the right thing, fighting disease, feeding the poor, helping abused kids - you don't even have to remember what great players they were to want them to stick around.

But it helps if you do. Nobody who watched the Avs win their two Stanley Cups wants to see Captain Joe go, in part because he's one of the greatest players in NHL history, in part because it would mark the end of an era we would rather not admit is over.

If you watched Forsberg register 14 points in nine regular-season games after being out of the league for 10 months, it's hard to make the case he can't play anymore. But how distracting or harmful is the continuing soap opera about whether he will be able to practice or play on any given day? It's an amorphous issue, which doesn't stop everybody from having an opinion.

Smith's recalcitrant hip took everybody off the hook, but it was already hard watching him become an afterthought in the Broncos offense toward the end of the 2006 season. Like Sakic, he represented not only a championship era but also a rare standard of individual accomplishment.

Smith's great pride as a self-made player, an undrafted free agent who became the Broncos' career receiving leader, made it hard for him to see the end coming. The magic of that championship chemistry stayed with him and he greeted every year as a chance to recapture that sublime feeling.

Lynch is a slightly different case because his greatest years were spent in Tampa. He wasn't here for the Broncos' championships, and other Broncos safeties, notably Steve Atwater and Dennis Smith, were better in their primes than Lynch has been somewhat beyond his.

The other day, giving out those awards to kids on behalf of his foundation, he admitted, with a laugh, taking a "haircut" from the Broncos.

Beneath the laugh, you could sense his injured pride at the salary cut, but there aren't many safeties in the NFL who will turn 37 next season.

Lynch will be given the opportunity to compete for a starting job, but there are no guarantees. He still presents a problem for opposing quarterbacks as a blitzing pass rusher, but not in pass coverage. That was part of the reason why the departed Jim Bates' defensive scheme failed last season. By keeping Lynch off the line of scrimmage, it failed to make use of what he does best.

For each of these players, the decision to call it a career is complicated by pride in their own ability and love of a game they have played as long as they can remember.

"It's very difficult to be honest with oneself at the end of your career," former big-league pitcher David Cone once observed.

Sakic's is perhaps the most difficult decision because it is clear he can still play. His career most closely resembles that of former Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, who played 22 seasons for one franchise, gracefully transitioning from an elite player to a complementary, inspirational one at the end.

Sakic has played 19 seasons for a single franchise, most of them as an elite player. He could easily play two more and give himself a chance to represent Canada at his hometown Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, a goal he mentioned after the NHL lockout three years ago.

The question is whether his pride will allow him to make the transition Yzerman made, to admit that younger players must take more of the load now.

Even Smith has yet to formally retire. Although he has come off the Broncos roster and his hip surgery makes coming back almost a pipe dream, he has not quite come around to closing the door on that dream.

Lynch will give it another shot in a season that could prove uncomfortable all the way around if he does not win a starting job.

Sakic and Forsberg will think about it a while, trying to figure out if chasing the ghost is still worth it to them.

However awkward the endings, we've been lucky to have these four in this town, as players and as people. The best way to show them the respect they've earned is to let them make their own decisions in their own time.

And to understand that of all the difficult things pro athletes do, letting go of greatness is the hardest.

Northman
05-12-2008, 08:30 PM
Good article.

Hobe
05-12-2008, 08:49 PM
Difficult article to write, but very well done. :salute:

TXBRONC
05-12-2008, 08:54 PM
I wonder if Rod will formally retire this year or hold out one year in the hopes that his hip will heal to wear he can play again.

Sassy
05-12-2008, 08:54 PM
Elway said it too...he felt like he could play come sunday...but it was the meetings, the long hours of practice, how the body felt on Mondays, etc...that he couldn't do anymore...

TXBRONC
05-12-2008, 09:04 PM
I understand it's tough for many of them to let go especially when this has been there life for 20 years.

Nature Boy
05-13-2008, 03:34 AM
It's this kind of rhetoric, "Lynch can't cut it no more." that breathes fire in John Lynch's belly. It's this kind of talk that has John Lynch working out 3 times a day.

I bet John Lynch will have another outstanding season and he'll make another pro-bowl appearance.

I for see a great 2008 season for both the offense and the defense. There is so much potential on this Broncos team with Cutler at the trigger, Henry dragging the rock and Champ and Bly securing the edges. All we needed was to reinforce the trenches and I think we definitely upgraded that by drafting Clady and with Nalen and Hamilton coming back and the acquisition of Robertson, not to mention Boss Bailey and DJ going back to his natural spot.

TXBRONC
05-13-2008, 10:41 PM
It's this kind of rhetoric, "Lynch can't cut it no more." that breathes fire in John Lynch's belly. It's this kind of talk that has John Lynch working out 3 times a day.

I bet John Lynch will have another outstanding season and he'll make another pro-bowl appearance.

I for see a great 2008 season for both the offense and the defense. There is so much potential on this Broncos team with Cutler at the trigger, Henry dragging the rock and Champ and Bly securing the edges. All we needed was to reinforce the trenches and I think we definitely upgraded that with drafting Clady, Nalen and Hamilton coming back and the acquisition of Robertson, not mention Boss Bailey and DJ going back to his natural spot.


I hope he can give us at least one more productive year but I'm not so sure.

I Bleed Orange and Blue
05-13-2008, 10:43 PM
the problem with lynch is he is still effective against the run, so his lack of coverage often gets overlooked. I loved him here, and liked him his whole career, but from now on every year he plays, thats one more year its going to take to develop someone else.

Nature Boy
05-13-2008, 10:48 PM
If he is still effective, why would we need to develop someone else? He's not the best cover safety but he makes up for it in the run and when he blitzes when used right. We have at least 5 guys at the safety position including Barret. The best man will start and I bet it's still gonna be John Lynch. I am sure Shanahan will not hand him the job.

I Bleed Orange and Blue
05-13-2008, 10:53 PM
If he is still effective, why would we need to develop someone else? He's not the best cover safety but he makes up for it in the run and when he blitzes when used right. We have at least 5 guys at the safety position including Barret. The best man will start and I bet it's still gonna be John Lynch. I am sure Shanahan will not hand him the job.

hey first i see your point and im not trying to argue, but the strength of our defense in the passing game. Why put a weak link in it and have teams exploit that? With the new additions of robertson and boss, and moving williams back the run defesne should be better...... i just dont think compromising coverage would be a good idea for the team.

TXBRONC
05-13-2008, 10:59 PM
If he is still effective, why would we need to develop someone else? He's not the best cover safety but he makes up for it in the run and when he blitzes when used right. We have at least 5 guys at the safety position including Barret. The best man will start and I bet it's still gonna be John Lynch. I am sure Shanahan will not hand him the job.

Why would we need to develop someone else? Because his window of productivity is small if he hasn't already passed that point.

I have no doubt you're right about Shanahan not handing John the job, that's evident in the fact he had to take a pay cut and that Shanahan told he would have to fend off competition in order to keep his job.

Nature Boy
05-13-2008, 10:59 PM
We'll have a good safety competition this coming camp. May the best man win. I see your point and I'm sure the coaches will take all that into consideration.

A positive with Lynch patrolling the air is, WRs will think twice when going across the middle. Lynch might be a half step late getting there but when he does, it might be ESPN highlight material.

TXBRONC
05-13-2008, 11:02 PM
We'll have a good safety competition this coming camp. May the best man win. I see your point and I'm sure the coaches will take all that into consideration.

A positive with Lynch patrolling the air is, WRs will think twice when going across the middle. Lynch might be a half step late getting there but when he does, it might be ESPN highlight material.

No doubt he can still jack up receivers if he can time it right. The other thing I'm concerned about is his neck.

Nature Boy
05-13-2008, 11:06 PM
Why would we need to develop someone else? Because his window of productivity is small if he hasn't already passed that point.



This is the point. If Lynch can still play and if he is still the best safety on the team, why bench him just cause he is old? I think it's just simple logic to play your best player til he isn't the best anymore then he can pass the torch.

By looking at the 5 safeties, Lynch, McCree, Abdullah, Marquand, Barret. I'll put my money on John Lynch then down the line in that exact order listed.

Nature Boy
05-13-2008, 11:08 PM
No doubt he can still jack up receivers if he can time it right. The other thing I'm concerned about is his neck.

Why would you worry about his neck? We signed him to Denver with that same exact neck as is and he's played 100%. Had there been anything with his neck, it would have come up the last 3 years.

TXBRONC
05-13-2008, 11:09 PM
This is the point. If Lynch can still play and if he is still the best safety on the team, why bench him just cause he is old? I think it's just simple logic to play your best player til he isn't the best anymore then he can pass the torch.

By looking at the 5 safeties, Lynch, McCree, Abdullah, Marquand, Barret. I'll put my money on John Lynch then down the line in that exact order listed.

Ok, but I'm not sure that he will beat out younger legs.

Nature Boy
05-13-2008, 11:16 PM
Ok, but I'm not sure that he will beat out younger legs.

OK, I'll bet you 5000 Freakbucks that he does. :listen: :beer:

We'll see when camp comes around. Lynch never was a cover guy and he didn't do anything less or different last season then what he did his whole career.

He's getting old, he knows it and he's sensing his welcome is not as warm as before. So now he's working out much harder than in years past. I think that kind of dedication to his training regiment will bring out extra years. I think he'll play better this year than last.

TXBRONC
05-13-2008, 11:19 PM
Why would you worry about his neck? We signed him to Denver with that same exact neck as is and he's played 100%. Had there been anything with his neck, it would have come up the last 3 years.

He left a game last season because of his neck.

Nature Boy
05-13-2008, 11:28 PM
Did he? I don't remember that. Either way, he played the following week and then on. I'm sure it's fine and until the Doc says otherwise, I don't think us fans have anything to worry about. That's the coaches and Doctor's job.

Superchop 7
05-13-2008, 11:44 PM
The hits in Hockey have far less velocity than those in football. (on average)

Sakic and Forsberg can still play at a high level.

I have heard so many good stories about Sakic, my former roomie was an entertainer and she said Joe was unlike most celebrities because he was a hands-on father and his kids were extremely well mannered. There was much love in the home.

I also know one of his teamates who praised Joe as a "regular" guy and a great teamate.

Sassy
05-13-2008, 11:45 PM
CAREER DEFENSIVE STATS
Year Team Tk Ast Sck Stf FF FR PD Int Yds TD
1993 TB 8 5 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0
1994 TB 11 4 0 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0
1995 TB 27 10 0 0 0 0 5 3 3 0
1996 TB 74 29 1 2.5 2 1 9 3 26 0
1997 TB 75 34 0 6.5 1 2 2 2 28 0
1998 TB 50 35 2 4 1 1 7 2 29 0
1999 TB 81 36 0.5 4.5 1 0 9 2 32 0
2000 TB 56 29 1 4 0 2 8 3 43 0
2001 TB 62 25 1 3.5 1 1 8 3 21 0
2002 TB 41 23 0 3.5 0 0 9 3 0 0
2003 TB 50 22 0.5 1 0 1 8 2 18 0
2004 DEN 48 17 2 3 3 0 10 1 2 0
2005 DEN 45 17 4 2 4 0 8 2 2 0
2006 DEN 59 25 0 3 2 1 5 0 0 0
2007 DEN 46 13 1 0.5 0 0 3 0 0 0
Totals: 733 324 13 38.5 16 9 93 26 204 0

broncosfanscott
05-13-2008, 11:50 PM
Nice article TXBRONC. Very good read.

An athlete plays a sport with a passion for 10-20 seasons or more it is very hard to all of a sudden stop. The one thing I have always respected is when an athlete retires when he is healthy because he wants walk away from the game under his own terms.

TXBRONC
05-13-2008, 11:57 PM
Nice article TXBRONC. Very good read.

An athlete plays a sport with a passion for 10-20 seasons or more it is very hard to all of a sudden stop. The one thing I have always respected is when an athlete retires when he is healthy because he wants walk away from the game under his own terms.


Thanks. :beer:

I have no doubt that it's difficult thing to do.

Nature Boy
05-14-2008, 12:00 AM
CAREER DEFENSIVE STATS
Year Team Tk Ast Sck Stf FF FR PD Int Yds TD
1993 TB 8 5 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0
1994 TB 11 4 0 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0
1995 TB 27 10 0 0 0 0 5 3 3 0
1996 TB 74 29 1 2.5 2 1 9 3 26 0
1997 TB 75 34 0 6.5 1 2 2 2 28 0
1998 TB 50 35 2 4 1 1 7 2 29 0
1999 TB 81 36 0.5 4.5 1 0 9 2 32 0
2000 TB 56 29 1 4 0 2 8 3 43 0
2001 TB 62 25 1 3.5 1 1 8 3 21 0
2002 TB 41 23 0 3.5 0 0 9 3 0 0
2003 TB 50 22 0.5 1 0 1 8 2 18 0
2004 DEN 48 17 2 3 3 0 10 1 2 0
2005 DEN 45 17 4 2 4 0 8 2 2 0
2006 DEN 59 25 0 3 2 1 5 0 0 0
2007 DEN 46 13 1 0.5 0 0 3 0 0 0
Totals: 733 324 13 38.5 16 9 93 26 204 0

It seems about on par with his 3 previous years in Denver minus the sacks due to Jim Bate's defense and they're all pro-bowl years.

He's 1 year older but his tenacious workout regiment should bring his body back to 33yr old condition in my theory. Surprise a lot of skeptics I think John Lynch will.

Sassy
05-14-2008, 12:03 AM
I think he looks consistent for the most part.

TXBRONC
05-14-2008, 12:04 AM
It seems about on par with his 3 previous years in Denver minus the sacks due to Jim Bate's defense and they're all pro-bowl years.

He's 1 year older but his tenacious workout regiment should bring his body back to 33yr old condition in my theory. Surprise a lot of skeptics I think John Lynch will.

As I said earlier I really do hope you're right.

Lonestar
05-14-2008, 12:27 PM
the problem with lynch is he is still effective against the run, so his lack of coverage often gets overlooked. I loved him here, and liked him his whole career, but from now on every year he plays, thats one more year its going to take to develop someone else.

If we would have had someone developing it would been an issue. This year it might change..

Medford Bronco
05-14-2008, 06:20 PM
I saw this article in the RMN and thought you all might enjoy reading it. Yes it's melancholy but it's still a very good article.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/may/12/krieger-calling-it-quits-never-easy/

KRIEGER: Calling it quits never easy
By Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Monday, May 12, 2008

From a distance, it's always so easy.

Jerry Rice? Hang 'em up!

M.J.? Don't come back!

It's fun to conduct other people's careers for them, especially famous people. It's a vicarious thrill, like telling a rich guy how to spend his money.

It's a little harder up close. Harder to tell John Lynch he can't cover anymore when he and his wife, Linda, are handing out awards and scholarships to young achievers in his adopted home, doing just what we always say we wish athletes would do.

Harder to tell Rod Smith he can't get open anymore when he's giving his face and name to the Broncos blood drive or demonstrating every day what it means to be a team player.

Harder to tell Joe Sakic he's about to turn 39 as he and Debbie plan their annual August shindig to benefit Food Bank of the Rockies (this year featuring comedian Josh Blue).

Harder even to tell Peter Forsberg his troublesome right foot is more of a pain to us than to him, remembering him raising money for the Denver Children's Advocacy Center.

Rewarding kids who do the right thing, fighting disease, feeding the poor, helping abused kids - you don't even have to remember what great players they were to want them to stick around.

But it helps if you do. Nobody who watched the Avs win their two Stanley Cups wants to see Captain Joe go, in part because he's one of the greatest players in NHL history, in part because it would mark the end of an era we would rather not admit is over.

If you watched Forsberg register 14 points in nine regular-season games after being out of the league for 10 months, it's hard to make the case he can't play anymore. But how distracting or harmful is the continuing soap opera about whether he will be able to practice or play on any given day? It's an amorphous issue, which doesn't stop everybody from having an opinion.

Smith's recalcitrant hip took everybody off the hook, but it was already hard watching him become an afterthought in the Broncos offense toward the end of the 2006 season. Like Sakic, he represented not only a championship era but also a rare standard of individual accomplishment.

Smith's great pride as a self-made player, an undrafted free agent who became the Broncos' career receiving leader, made it hard for him to see the end coming. The magic of that championship chemistry stayed with him and he greeted every year as a chance to recapture that sublime feeling.

Lynch is a slightly different case because his greatest years were spent in Tampa. He wasn't here for the Broncos' championships, and other Broncos safeties, notably Steve Atwater and Dennis Smith, were better in their primes than Lynch has been somewhat beyond his.

The other day, giving out those awards to kids on behalf of his foundation, he admitted, with a laugh, taking a "haircut" from the Broncos.

Beneath the laugh, you could sense his injured pride at the salary cut, but there aren't many safeties in the NFL who will turn 37 next season.

Lynch will be given the opportunity to compete for a starting job, but there are no guarantees. He still presents a problem for opposing quarterbacks as a blitzing pass rusher, but not in pass coverage. That was part of the reason why the departed Jim Bates' defensive scheme failed last season. By keeping Lynch off the line of scrimmage, it failed to make use of what he does best.

For each of these players, the decision to call it a career is complicated by pride in their own ability and love of a game they have played as long as they can remember.

"It's very difficult to be honest with oneself at the end of your career," former big-league pitcher David Cone once observed.

Sakic's is perhaps the most difficult decision because it is clear he can still play. His career most closely resembles that of former Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, who played 22 seasons for one franchise, gracefully transitioning from an elite player to a complementary, inspirational one at the end.

Sakic has played 19 seasons for a single franchise, most of them as an elite player. He could easily play two more and give himself a chance to represent Canada at his hometown Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, a goal he mentioned after the NHL lockout three years ago.

The question is whether his pride will allow him to make the transition Yzerman made, to admit that younger players must take more of the load now.

Even Smith has yet to formally retire. Although he has come off the Broncos roster and his hip surgery makes coming back almost a pipe dream, he has not quite come around to closing the door on that dream.

Lynch will give it another shot in a season that could prove uncomfortable all the way around if he does not win a starting job.

Sakic and Forsberg will think about it a while, trying to figure out if chasing the ghost is still worth it to them.

However awkward the endings, we've been lucky to have these four in this town, as players and as people. The best way to show them the respect they've earned is to let them make their own decisions in their own time.

And to understand that of all the difficult things pro athletes do, letting go of greatness is the hardest.

Lynch is not nearly the player that Joe Sakic in his sport was this past year when healthy. I love Lynch but would have hung em up IMO.

He struggled a lot last year and I dont think he will start this year (just a gut feeling)

Sakic was very good when healthy and I think will still be healthy for another year or two. Forsberg is an injury waiting to happen, good when he plays though but that is too infrequesnt unfortunately

BANJOPICKER1
05-14-2008, 09:40 PM
I wonder if Rod will formally retire this year or hold out one year in the hopes that his hip will heal to wear he can play again.
I want him as a WR coach!!He could some day become the head coach of the Texans,,LOL.I think you get what I am saying.:D

TXBRONC
05-14-2008, 09:44 PM
I want him as a WR coach!!He could some day become the head coach of the Texans,,LOL.I think you get what I am saying.:D


If Rod wanted to coach I would love to have him, that's even more time consuming than being a player.

Sassy
05-14-2008, 09:49 PM
I don't think Rod will go into coaching...at least not while his kids are still growing up.

TXBRONC
05-14-2008, 10:34 PM
I don't think Rod will go into coaching...at least not while his kids are still growing up.


I don't know if he's even interested in going into coaching. If he is, I think he could be a good one.

Nature Boy
05-15-2008, 04:07 AM
I think Rod wants to open a whole bunch of Subways or something, really. he said that a few years ago after he retires.

Lonestar
05-15-2008, 11:56 AM
I don't know if he's even interested in going into coaching. If he is, I think he could be a good one.

would certainly be a role model there alos.. IMO