As we head into Super Bowl Sunday and the drama of whether or not Peyton Manning will take home a second title ring I heard a recent discussion about Michael Young and whether or not he belongs in the Ranger Hall of Fame or even the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. (The quick answers to those two issues are who cares and absolutely not. I can't even believe a "journalist" would refer to Michael Young as a borderline Hall of Famer with a hits total of under 2400 and home run numbers under 200. Perhaps ESPN 103.3 doesn't believe in drug testing its employees.)
The primary discussion centered around does Young belong in the Rangers Hall of Fame since he went to the Phillies and then the Dodgers. The absent mindedness of the fact that the Rangers traded Young to Philadelphia is somewhat disheartening, but what was Young to do? Stop playing? Simply because he wasn't a Ranger anymore? You have to be kidding right?
The discussion then moved to how the Dallas Metroplex was unhappy with Emmitt Smith continued to play football after the Dallas Cowboys no longer wanted him. I realize the picture of Smith playing in a Cardinals jersey had to horrify Dallas fans back in the day, but as I recall he started fifteen games for the Cardinals and nearly ran for 1000 yards in 2004. Why is it he should give up playing just because Jerry Jones wasn't smart enough to want to keep him around?
Right now, the Cowboys would kill for a guy who was a consistent 1000 yard rusher and a quarterback smart enough to hand the ball off to him. (Given DeMarco Murrary's injury history I am not ready to pronounce him a true heir apparent to Mr. Smith, but he might be, though I doubt with Tony Romo and his five offensive coordinators, he will ever get to show it.)
Another great example of a guy who didn't know he was supposed to quit was Nolan Ryan. I know it's a scary thought, but you will remember, even the great Texas Ranger Nolan Ryan wasn't a Ranger. Not until the END of his career. Before that he played for the Mets, Astros, and even the California Angels. Was he supposed to stop playing because the team he started with no longer wanted his services?
What about Willie Mays? Some say he was the greatest ball player of all time. I argue that because I never saw Mr. Mays pitch, but having started his career in New York with the Giants, he ended it in New York also...as a Met. Remember that?
I don't bring up all these examples, not to mention Mr. Manning, for any other reason than this is a child's game that adult men get to earn a living playing. In general, their careers are short lived, perhaps four or five years if they are really good. That being the case, why would anyone begrudge a player for taking those extra contracts to play a game?
There is a lesson for the rest of us in their pursuit. When you find that which you are passionate about...run after it. Go get it...seize that day.
Robin Williams character in Dead Poets Society was dead right...make your lives extraordinary:
Now I would like you to step forward over here and peruse some of the faces from the past. You’ve walked past them many times. I don’t think you’ve really looked at them.
They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen. Do you hear it?
[whispers] Carpe.
[whispers again] Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.
What are you waiting for? Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor. Go get it.
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