Sports Daily: Mendenhall Retires, Bashes Commercialization

[FaceMask]

Quote: Originally Posted by mestevo

lol? Didn't you now just do the same thing to the people you disagree with that you're accusing them of doing?

Um, no. That response is non sequitir. I see nothing lol-worthy either. For starters, I never called anyone a name or tried to create an irrational image of someone (both are usually a requirement of demonizing someone), nor was I speaking to any specific person in this thread, because if I were I would've spoken to them directly just like I'm speaking to you directly right now.

Thanks.

[ubernoob]

Average player who can't hack it anymore tries to keep his celebrity status going by ripping "commercialization of the game" while promoting himself enjoying "old school values" in a public forum like we should honestly give a **** what he says about it. Pot, meet kettle.

I won't say he's a bad person because I don't know him on a personal level. I can say he's an idiot, though, for some of the things already noted here I won't go over.

[Hooe]

I don't fault Mendenhall for leaving the game with his body still intact, and I don't fault him for pursuing other things; he has a wide variety of interests and is by all accounts a reasonably intelligent man (notwithstanding some comments he made which can't be discussed here).

That said, the NFL was getting ready to move on from Mendenhall just as well; given that he was benched in Arizona this season for Andre Ellington, I don't know if he'd have been able to find a spot this upcoming season anyway. He certainly wouldn't get a contract for anything beyond a one-year deal to be a RB2 at this point.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Agreed that this could just be his way of having an excuse to retire when he otherwise might not have been picked up anyways, but I guess I just don't understand why people always have to assume the worst. Personally, I don't have a problem with anything that he's said that's been mentioned in this thread. Sounds to me like he's just wired differently than your typical athlete.

[blackceasar]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lukin4

Wow, a football player that actually has a life outside the sport, understands the bigger picture and knows what his priorities in life are, and people are going to bash him for that???

Ladanian Tomlinson has a life outside of the sport, yet he's probably going to be a first ballot hall of famer. Marshal Faulk could have probably played 2-3 more seasons as a legit number 1 RB on several teams.

Mendenhall was a first round draft pick that never lived up to it. Mediocre' RB at best who maybe showed flashes of greatness one or two games a season in his first 2 seasons in the NFL. Lets keep it real here and not be so neieve. While none of us will ever know his true intentions or motivation, if someone told me I had to bet my salary on this dude and how he played this out I would say that if he had been rushing for 1200+ yards a season every season, wasn't injury ridden and getting shown up by backs coming in taken in the mid-round he'd still be playing.

It's the whole dump her before she dumps you to save face routine. He dumped the NFL before the NFL dumped him. He wasn't going to have a significant role on any team moving forward and thats IF he were invited to a training camp only to probably be cut during a team's pre-season. This way he looks like one of those "good for you" guys when in reality he's a "you were a bust and already out of the NFL" guys.

Let's not kid ourselves here. If he had been offered a 6 year contract extension worth 75 million million with 28 million guaranteed this off season, he would be suiting up, and celebrating in the endzone just like everyone else.

[blackceasar]

Quote: Originally Posted by Yeah...THAT Guy

Agreed that this could just be his way of having an excuse to retire when he otherwise might not have been picked up anyways, but I guess I just don't understand why people always have to assume the worst. Personally, I don't have a problem with anything that he's said that's been mentioned in this thread. Sounds to me like he's just wired differently than your typical athlete.

True but money talks. Look at Ricky Williams when he first retired and said he just wasn't into football anymore, wanted to go "find himself" bla bla bla.. next thing you know he realizes what child support payments look like for him. Next thing you know, he's "rediscovered" his love for the NFL. Sure people might assume the worst, but if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck.. it's probably a duck.

When's the last time you've seen a player so young in his career but super talented just hang it up like 5-8 years before you'd expect him to? Tell me the last time you've seen it happen. I'm not talking about some serious injury. I'm talking about bonafide pro bowler/all star dudes in their mid to early 20's deciding to "hang it up" for a higher calling/ground. lol.

Let's get real here. Adrian Peterson wasn't going to hang it up at 26 years old with the career and money he was making.

Kobe Bryant.. oh yeah.. I'm sure he contemplated retirement at 24 (even after like 6-7 years in the league)

Sure you might see like a Robert Smith hang it up later in his career when there's still gas left in the tank, but he hung it up when he was still a number 1 RB on a pretty decent team.

Mendenhall has been an average to below average back at best pretty much his entire short lived career... for him its EASY to just hang it up, and then make a statement....

[Kaiser Wilhelm]

Quote: Originally Posted by NDAlum

In my opinion he sounded arrogant in his article. Not really anything to debate about. Just my perception of that piece.

That is just the Huffington Post. Their "journalism," if one can even call it that, is atrocious. Their articles usually have a smug attitude towards them because it's more of a blog than an actual news outlet.

Whenever I see something from Huffington Post, I make sure to down a salt shaker before reading.

As to the topic of the article, good for him. He made a smart PR move and who is to say what he is saying isn't a deeply held belief? It may be both. As for him being a bad guy, nothing he said about 9/11 makes him a scumbag or dirtbag. If that is your criteria, you must have a very dark outlook on the world.

[elgreazy1]

Quote: Originally Posted by blackceasar

True but money talks. Look at Ricky Williams when he first retired and said he just wasn't into football anymore, wanted to go "find himself" bla bla bla.. next thing you know he realizes what child support payments look like for him. Next thing you know, he's "rediscovered" his love for the NFL. Sure people might assume the worst, but if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck.. it's probably a duck.

http://espn.go.com/30for30/film?page=run-ricky-run
It wasn't about the money, until the NFL and his teams made it about the money.


As for Mendenhall, I agree with a lot of his assertions. Society has changed drastically in the last decade and a lot has to do with social media, media, and athletes in general. The world is constantly plugged in while the ESPN's of the world look to sensationalize and feast on anything slightly news-worthy - I mean, how many updates to stories have we seen where the entire content is reposted Twitter feeds. Couple these with the fact that ego-maniac athletes now receive 24/7 attention and sports has created a culture within itself that Mendenhall chastised.

Sure, many of us dream of playing a professional sport, but how many of us are capable of sacrificing in a pressure-cooker situation the way these athletes do? It's not all glitz and glamour. It's constantly training, pushing onself, testing limits, resting and recovering your body, eating right, sleeping well, staying out of trouble when you have lots of money, not becoming a media target, never knowing when you're last day in the office will be and always looking over your shoulder for someone gunning to take your job. It can't be nearly as easy as lofting disapproving statements from our keyboards.