Broncos OL walks away: 'It's madness to risk your body'

[Dick Whitman]

http://tracking.si.com/2013/11/06/john-moffitt-retire-broncos-nfl/?sct=obnetwork

Guy sounds like, um, a bit of an NFL non-conformist:

I don’t care about the Super Bowl. I don’t. I used to. I mean, anytime I played this game, I gave my heart to it and I’m a person that does things with his heart…I don’t need the Super Bowl experience.

And, my favorite:

He told the AP that his world views have changed significantly over the past few years after reading literature from the Dalai Lama and Noam Chomsky.

 

[YankeeFan]

*****.

 

[LongTimeListener]

He should have punched somebody, he would feel better.

 

[heyabbott]

He read Ayn Rynd and finds it disgusting that the teams are sharing revenue like some socialist coven of do-gooding kindergarten children from the Upper West Side.

 

[Dick Whitman]

He read Ayn Rynd and finds it disgusting that the teams are sharing revenue like some socialist coven of do-gooding kindergarten children from the Upper West Side.

I don't get the feeling that he's anti-socialism ...

 

[da man]

The Dalai Lama advised him to take up golf.

Big hitter, the Lama. Long.

 

[heyabbott]

The Dalai Lama advised him to take up golf.

Big hitter, the Lama. Long.

He's got that going for him. Which is good.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Would be a different story If he were due, say, $5 mil over the rest of his contract rather than $1 mil.

 

[Batman]

Good for him. Being a pro football player is not something you need to do half-heartedly. Sounds like he's at peace with it, and it's always great to go out with your health and on your own terms. Also sounds like he's not a guy who needs the spotlight or any of the trappings that go along with being an NFL player.

That said ...

The guy could've banked $312,500 for three more months of work. As a backup.
There's a lot of blue collar jobs that are just as dangerous and tough on a body as professional football where you'd be lucky to make that much in a decade. I sure hope his podcasting business does better than one of those.
I can understand walking away at the end of the season. There's a lot of hard work that goes into an offseason, and no guarantees if you're a marginal player like he is. But midseason, when you're already on a roster and can muddle along as a backup the rest of the way?
That's not putting your body at risk, that's the American F'n dream.
I'm trying not to be all about money here, since there's obviously larger forces at work and it's impossible to put myself in his shoes, but that's hard to wrap my head around. For three months of work, you could pay for your 5-year-old's college education, and still have plenty of time to spend with him when you retire at season's end. To me, that's a small sacrifice to make. Millions of people do that every day. The guy essentially threw a lottery ticket in the garbage.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Would be a different story If he were due, say, $5 mil over the rest of his contract rather than $1 mil.

Maybe, maybe not. Guys have walked away from a lot of money before.

It doesn't sound like money was much of a factor in his decision other than "I have what I'm going to need."

 

[dirtybird]

He was a quirky player in college. Friends told me he was a great quote but always going to his own beat.