Retire Already, Brett!!!

Picture this: a tearful middle school art teacher, sitting in front of his peers who are surrounding him in the cafeteria. He's given 30 years of faithful service and now it's time to call it a career. There's a cake on a table and a few gifts from well-wishers. The man of the hour now stands and thanks everyone for all the great memories and the wonderful gifts. There's some applause, even from some of the first-year teachers that don't even know this old geezer. There are a few whispering under their breaths, "It's about time he left." The moment ends and this tired, old educator walks out of the school forever. Or maybe not.

Two weeks later, with his contract days expired, and everyone is well into their summer vacation, the sad and aging art teacher calls his boss and says we need to get everyone back together. "I want to stay another year...I'm not ready to retire." Of course, driven by the letter he received from the Teacher Retirement System showing him his monthly retirement check may buy him a cup of caramel machiatto at Starbucks and a blueberry bagel...and that's a big maybe, he's decided to stick it out one more time. Who cares if he hasn't done any real teaching the last 5 years of his career. It doesn't matter if he had little to no classroom discipline to speak of for quite a while. But, he did manage to bring it in what he, and his boss, believed would be his swan song finale; a year in which he did more teaching, changed more lives, and generally improved more as an educator than he did in his 30-year sojourn at Anywhere Middle School.

His boss, tapping a pen on a desk, politely reminds him his time is over. His retirement papers have been submitted and it's out of his hands. "But, I don't want to leave. I want to stay!" "Too late," says the principal, "I've already hired your replacement." Then it hits the old guy like a bat to the face. Life goes on. They missed me for about three minutes and they (staff) got back to their lives. Summer is here and everyone's gone. This guy is just a memory. The kids probably won't even notice his absence in August when the new, fresh, pretty girl that will take his place is standing outside the art classroom welcoming her new students.

Hey Brett Favre! You played a pretty good, Hall of Fame career, but you're about to make everyone sick. In fact, if you look at Favre's stats he lost as many games as he won for the Pack by forcing bad throws and getting picked off in crucial moments. That's how I remember his final game with Green Bay. It's time to take a look at Dan Marino and gracefully take your exit. Granted, more people will miss you than the jerk Marino, but it's time to let someone else take the reins. You're holding up the process of indoctrinating another quarterback into the offensive system and that's not fair. Your time has come and gone and now you must move on.

Retire, already, Dude. Enjoy time with your now healthy wife and get on with your life.



TFR