On the parallel yet very distinct ways in which two of all-time greats left
the game—and the American resonances of each.
When Jim Brown
unexpectedly retired in the summer of 1966, after nine seasons with the
Cleveland Browns, he left football as the
undisputed greatest running back in the league’s history, with numerous
league records (including the career yardage mark) under his belt. Thirty-three
years later, in the summer of 1999, Barry
Sanders announcement his just as unexpected retirement; in his ten seasons
with the Detroit Lions, Sanders had threatened numerous records of his own (he
retired less than 1500 yards behind the all-time mark), and had struck many
observers as the greatest running back since Brown. Yet despite these
similarities, the circumstances of the players’ retirements were also hugely
different: Brown retired due to conflicts with his burgeoning acting career, which
he would pursue for the next few decades, remaining in the public eye
throughout; Sanders refused to discuss the reasons for his retirement, and largely
disappeared from the spotlight thereafter.
It’s impossible, and probably irresponsible, to speculate at length about
the reasons why anyone makes the choices in his or her life, and I don’t
pretend to have any special knowledge about either of these particular men or
cases. But given the particular circumstances and details that we do know of
each, I would say that Brown came to feel that he was bigger or more
multi-faceted than the sport, and no longer wanted to be contained by its
limits (such as the training
camp restrictions from Browns owner Art Modell that specifically precipitated
his retirement); and that Sanders, on the other hand, seems to have felt
that the
sport and its various attendant effects and issues were bigger or more draining
than he was willing to deal with. I’m sure that there were multiple factors in
each case, and I don’t mean to critique either man in any way; instead, I
highlight these particular frames as they have interesting resonances with
other talented American figures.
When it comes to Sanders, I can think of various famous Americans who seem
to have suddenly decided (while still at their prime) that the demands of their
respective worlds were intolerable and to have withdrawn from those worlds; perhaps
the most extreme example would have to be J.D.
Salinger. After the mega-success of The
Catcher in the Rye (1951), Salinger withdrew entirely from public life
and mostly from publishing; his last
published story appeared in 1965, 45 years before his 2010 death. Brown, on
the other hand, reminds me of those talented but fickle Americans who abandon
established success in one field to pursue an entirely different one, perhaps
to prove to the world or themselves that they can do so; the most common contemporary
moves seem to be between the
worlds of acting and music, but perhaps even more complicatedly and compellingly
American are those celebrities
who decide to pursue a career in politics and public service, particularly
those who do so at the height of success. If Ben
Affleck had chosen to run for John Kerry’s Massachusetts Senate seat, he’d
have been simply the latest in that long and interesting American line.
Next gridiron-inspired topic
tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you think? Thoughts on Brown, Sanders, or these broader themes?
Other football and America stories or themes you’d highlight?
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