NFL Player decides to ERE

[C40]

I saw this article today about an NFL lineman that decided to retire early. It sounds like he was frustrated with his job and did some soul searching during a week off. He wasn't happy, and felt like he was wasting his time and risking his health. It sounds like he reviewed his savings, realized he was FI, and decided to quit.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1839 ... &hpt=hp_c3

“I just really thought about it and decided I’m not happy. I’m not happy at all,” Moffitt told the Associated Press, via ESPN.com. “And I think it’s really madness to risk your body, risk your well-being and risk your happiness for money."

I've saved enough. It's not like I'm sitting here and I'm a millionaire. That's what I kind of realized. I'm sitting here and I got to this point and I was like, what is the number that you need? How much do you really need? What do you want in life? And I decided that I don't really need to be a millionaire.

And quotes from other articles:

Everybody, they just don't get it and they think it's crazy. But I think what I was doing is crazy.

I just want to be happy. And I find that people that have the least in life are sometimes the happiest. And I don't have the least in life. I have enough in life. And I won't sacrifice my health for that.

Once you tear away all the illusions of it, it's hard work. And it's dangerous work. And you're away from your family. And it's not good for families. It's very tough on families.

Like some EREers it sounds like he will be working more - in a career he enjoys more:

I'm ready to go to work and start doing other things right now," Moffitt said. "So, it's a smoother transition and I'm still young enough to start a career and my body's healthy and I'm good. I look at it as a great start to life, you know?

[FI Fighter]

Happiest and health are underrated... I'm starting to learn that. I've been stubborn, but would also like to check out so that I can get started with life.

Interesting read. It's not all about the money.

[Spartan_Warrior]

Obviously I respect the guy's decision and rationale, but it sounds like he didn't even give two weeks notice or anything! Just didn't show up after a bye week. Seems kinda rude to his teammates and employers, even if he is (by my understanding) mostly a benchwarmer.

Of course, knowing me, I can't guarantee I won't do the same type of bridge burning when I finally retire.

[Chad]

I would have gladly taken his spot 15 years ago. That was my dream job (a lot of people's).

I wonder if he stayed long enough to get the player retirement/pension package. It takes something like 3 or 4 years to become part of the retirement/pension package. From my understanding it is rather nice. Would have been a nice safety net for when he got older.

[champ0608]

Awesome article, thanks for sharing.

If it were me, I would have rode the wave all the way to the superbowl, got a ring, picked up $300,000, and then walked away. We're only talking about four months and 11 or 12 games if you go all the way. That would give you credentials you could leverage in almost in endeavor you wanted to. Now you're the guy who walked away mid-season.

If he believed this was the decision he had to make, I won't question it, but it seems like a rash decision that he may question later. In my opinion, even if you plan for an extremely early exit, its best to make sure to wrap up loose ends.

[JohnnyH]

Hats off 'n all, but I I agree with champ0608, I think it was a rash decision... He should have made this decision then kept his nose to the grindstone for a year or three. Looking at his history, he likely has at most $500k savings, no ERE skills, expensive tastes with a model girlfriend and no practical skills (* looks up major ... sociology, ouch).

He's making $650,000 a year to play a game usually reserved for carefree children... I predict he'll blow through his savings before he's 35 and end up as a minor attraction at a car dealership. The real(er) world is going to hit him in the face with a hammer... The only decent paying job (without some charity nepotism) he'll find will be some kind of manual labor. When he's fiddling with a pipe in the Dakota winter he'll realize what an idiot he was.

... haha, anyway, hope I'm wrong! ...

[Spartan_Warrior]

@JohnnyH: I can see where you and Champ are coming from, but that was a little harsh. Eerily similar to some mainstream comments about ERE in general. I don't know the guy personally or anything about him, really, but I think it's rash to jump to conclusions about his spending habits and skillsets based on his girlfriend's profession and his college major...

Who knows what the situation was. Maybe something happened that really made him worry about his health/injuries to the point where he didn't want to risk one more game/practice. NFL football is pretty far from what carefree children play. Or maybe he literally reached the point that was "enough" and saw no further point to continue earning or be shackled by golden handcuffs, just as many of us would.

[JohnnyH]

@Spartan: You're right, it was a little harsh and I did jump to conclusions, but I'd bet I'm correct... I don't think he's an ERE standard bearer.

Most likely: he's never worked outside football, lives a lifestyle similar to his peers, received special treatment since he was a (large) child... Most pro sports players go broke, I'd bet he's more similar than not.

Looks like he recently failed a physical, this might be him "getting in front" of it... Would be interesting to get an update in 5-15 years. I wonder if we'll see him try out for other teams.

[Seneca]

The article makes him sound like he's throwing around hipster platitudes to justify an impulsive decision to quit, rather than a well reasoned ERE plan. Surely I wasn't the only one waiting for YOLO?

But who knows...

[jacob]

Agh... so much speculation here. In my experience, speculation based on news articles is at least 50% wrong. It's on my "Don't do"-list

[Dragline]

I think he's being controlled by aliens.

But that's just my speculation.

[C40]

I'm surprised by the criticism..

That he'll go broke soon? I'm guessing you're saying this because it happens to so many other NFL players (it is striking). If he's going broke, it doesn't matter much whether he plays for another season or two - all that would do is delay the date he goes broke by a season or two. (and possibly leave him with many more injuries, drug use problems, etc.). He said he'd rather have less or no money than continue - for him, going broke is not the worst option.

Inferring that he should stay until the end of the year (as if a Superbowl trip and/or win is guaranteed).. He answered this himself already - he doesn't care about the Superbowl. He said it won't make him any happier. Can't we just take his word for it? (Who would know better: us, or the guy who actually plays in the NFL and is referring to his own personal opinion?)

That he won't be able to get a real job and that the real world will be a shock to him. How in the world could you know this about him? There are some smart guys in the NFL. Maybe him dropping out before he's completely used up is a sign that he's one of the smart ones(?). That job is not a cakewalk. It is very difficult competing at the highest levels. There are so many guys training and playing through injuries that painkiller addiction is fairly common among players. I believe nearly all of them are having to decide whether or not to use drugs that could possibly do them harm. (A.S., HGH, painkillers, etc.)

[Dragline]

Oh, I wouldn't fault him. I think the others are mostly just saying he could have planned it a little better.

Quitting in dramatic fashion on Twitter in the middle of the season sounds like he's got visions of riding off into the sunset in his eyes, when everyone know the sun 'l come up tomorrow. At least that's what a little red-haired girl once told me.

[jennypenny]

Those players are just one bad hit away from drooling on themselves for the rest of their lives. I don't blame him for walking away as soon as he was ready.

[m741]

Reminds me of Jake Plummer, a (pretty good) quarterback who retired early, moved to Idaho, and began playing handball for fun. I always respected him for that.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ortCat=nfl

[Chad]

Reminds me of Jake Plummer, a (pretty good) quarterback who retired early, moved to Idaho, and began playing handball for fun. I always respected him for that.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ortCat=nfl

Agreed. Though, Jake had at least a few million in the bank. Enough that if he earned 3-4% a year he would have at least $100k to live on (probably more).

[Chad]

Those players are just one bad hit away from drooling on themselves for the rest of their lives. I don't blame him for walking away as soon as he was ready.

I am very interested in the brain studies currently ongoing. I want to see some real numbers on mental problems of football players vs a normal (but active) person who didn't play football. The anecdotal evidence doesn't look good, but it has fooled us before.

For instance, there are way more concussions in soccer than most people think. Why aren't former pro soccer players having the same issues as the NFL players? Maybe they are, but no one is reporting it? Or, maybe the brain issues with the NFL players are anecdotal and outliers of the normal football population?

[m741]

My understanding is that the brain issues of NFL players are not caused so much by concussions, but rather by the repeated small blows that are sustained in both practice and on the field. This is one reason why linemen are more likely to have problems (vs receivers, say). These blows are more likely to happen in football than in most other sports.

I believe soccer players have also had an unusual amount of mental issues, but I don't have sources on that.

[jennypenny]

I wonder if the difference between football and soccer players is the shear number of hits, not just the number of concussions. Some positions necessitate knocking helmets on almost every play. Maybe the damage results from the shear number of low-level hits?

I'm not just talking about head trauma either. My brother was a college quarterback. Then a horrible hit, two blown discs, and he was done. He lives with terrible pain. He says all of the time he wishes he'd pursued baseball instead of football.

edit: sorry if I'm repeating what M741 said

[Chad]

My understanding is that the brain issues of NFL players are not caused so much by concussions, but rather by the repeated small blows that are sustained in both practice and on the field. This is one reason why linemen are more likely to have problems (vs receivers, say). These blows are more likely to happen in football than in most other sports.

I believe soccer players have also had an unusual amount of mental issues, but I don't have sources on that.

What I have seen has not highlighted any one position, at least not in a statistically significant way. The big name cases have varied all over the board from a linemen like Mike Webster and Justin Strzelczyk to Al Toon (WR), Junior Seau (LB), Tony Dorsett (RB), Dave Duerson (safety), etc.

Some research suggests it is the concussions:

The control group showed low activity levels in the frontal lobe while performing the task, while the football players used more mental energy to complete the test successfully. The football players also showed lower levels of connectivity between the frontal lobe and other regions of the brain. What’s more, the level of abnormal brain activity in the NFL players directly correlated with how often they reported leaving a game because of head injury.

http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013 ... l-players/

As the article points out, this is a self-selected population. They asked for former NFL players who had mental issues and tested them against normal people. What if they had tested non-football players with mental issues against the NFL players with mental issues? Would there be a difference? This is where we are at.

I would not rule out the hundreds or thousands of small hits taken by players. Though, in reality the difference in the number of small hits between a lineman and receiver wouldn't be enormous.