It seems to be a growing trend across all of the major sporting leagues in the United States that aging veterans seem to spend the final years of their career doing anything they can to put one more championship ring on their finger.

Players who were once dominant, but that father time may have finally caught up with, often claim in their last years that they are ready to take a diminished role in order to help a team win. This humble attitude rings true when the contract is signed, but often hits a snag once the games begin.

One of the most recent examples of this has been seen with recently retired center Shaquille O’ Neal. In his last four seasons in the NBA he saw stints with Phoenix, Cleveland, and Boston all end in disappointing fashion.

In Shaq’s case, injuries got the best of him, which is both understandable and commonplace for athletes that are in their upper 30′s or even 40′s. Unfortunately some of these chases end in an even uglier fashion.

Let’s take Ricky Henderson for example. He was so sure that he could still play the game and run the bases like he used to, that he spend the last years of his career playing for the Newark Bears in the Independent Atlantic League while desperately trying to prove that he could still contribute to a Major League club. A failed attempt.

There are countless other examples that I could run through. Brett Favre with the Vikings, Karl Malone with the Lakers, and even David Beckham with the L.A. Galaxy are just some off the top of my head that didn’t quite live up to what they once were. This is not to say they weren’t contributing, but it is surely to say that they weren’t doing exactly what they thought they could do for the team.

I admire the fact that these athletes still believe that they can go out and perform to their prime potential even in their later years. To be honest, in the same position I could see myself making a similar decision.

I also respect the fact that these people are used to living a lavish lifestyle, and a multi-million dollar contract is nearly impossible to walk away from no matter how old you may be.

What is tough for me and many other sports fans to see is when these players do one of two things. Sometimes, as sad as it is, they find a way to embarrass themselves, and somewhat tarnish their greatest moments.

As mentioned before, Brett Favre is the most obvious example of this phenomenon. His ridiculous faux retirements and countless comebacks put a terrible taste in most fans mouths. Many Packers fans turned on him, and many Jets and Vikings fans were disappointed when they saw his limited production on the field.

I actually am a big Brett Favre fan when I take in the entire arc of his career. That being said, I, and many other fans I’m sure, wish he would have just hung up the cleats after his days in Green Bay. Having the itch to play is one thing, but his antics were something else altogether.

The second thing I hate to see is when an aging vet still can’t accept a reserve role to help the team. All too often they still believe that they could be the dynamic starters they once were, even when that is clearly no longer the case. The ego gets in the way.

Last season in Germany, 32 year old Miroslav Klose demanded a starting spot on Bayern Munich. He insisted he was in top shape. The sad truth however was that Mario Gomez is a rising star for the team, and at 25 years old, he is the clear choice for the future. As tough as it may be for some former stars to accept that their prime has passed them by, any humble qualities go out the window with an act like this.

It is incredibly difficult to say what should be done in such a situation. As a fan however it is equally difficult to see some athletes make the choices they do and fail in the latter years of their career.

Another key example is about to happen before our eyes in the upcoming NBA season.

Last week the news was broken that former Philadelphia 76′ers guard Allen Iverson wanted to make a return to the NBA to finish his career “the right way.”

I refuse to bash him just yet, because I fully understand why he would want to end his fantastic career in the NBA rather than in the Turkish league, but I am surely not expecting a complete success here.

The sad truth is that so many things can go wrong with this kind of move. Maybe Iverson will be one of the few exceptions to the rule given just how dynamic he once was. Maybe he can accept a diminished role compared to his 40 minute days of years past. Maybe he can finally get that championship he has always been yearning for.

Unfortunately many athletes that make these moves are merely left with what could have been, rather than what actually did. But maybe.
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The super bowl champions will be given their hardware on Thursday night during a ceremony at Lambeau Field. We’ve had months to digest the fact that the packers won, since there is no plans to play football this upcoming season, we might as well look back; at least for a sentence or two.

It was unexpected and it was a great watch, as is every super bowl in my opinion…even if some might not be as competitive as others and the Giants unfortunately are not always on the field.

Now that we are done with that, let’s focus on the NFC North, the division of the champs and its many quarterback personalities; except for Minnesota of course.

We all know who the class of this division is and I don’t expect much to change.  Although, I would not be surprise if another team finishes on top of this division.  I expect a lot from the usual suspects; usual suspects being Chicago Bears and Green Bay.  Call me crazy but I do see a change coming in this division in the form of a game changing defensive tackle and an improving young offense.

Let’s get this out of the way now so we can move on.

The bears in my opinion will win this division because, they to me will be consistent while these  other teams in this division will struggle…mainly because they are young and not great on both sides of the ball as of yet.

With that said, a conversation about the quarterbacks in the NFC North is more interesting to me then a talk about the teams as a whole…this is not to take away from the teams themselves because I do think this will be the toughest division in the NFL aside from the NFC East- but these players are special or have the potential to be.

We all know what Rodgers has done in three years as a starter in the NFL; in fact, he is on pace to pass Dan Marino, Payton Manning, Favre and Brady in all major statistical categories.  Now I’m not saying the man will be a hall of famer, but let’s look at what he has done.  Before even doing that, it may be more important to think about who he replaced in Green Bay and the circumstances in which it happened.  How does one replace a legend in the manor which he did, with such grace and respectfulness? And then, winning a super bowl several years later. He is now top 3 or 4 in the league and will be MVP next year.

Matthew Stafford is 23 years old and hasn’t started a full NFL season as of yet, but the potential is still clearly there.  At some point it will have to stop being potential and we will have to see it in his play on the field, but it will have to start with staying healthy.

Will he continue to be injury prone is the question… the thing with Detroit is their draft picks haven’t always lived up to the hype of being high picks but things have taking a turn these last few drafts and they are building the right way.

Stafford is not there yet in terms of being a high tier signal caller in the league but his time will come, there’s little doubt about that.

Cutler on the other hand is a seasoned gun slinger in the mold of Brett Favre…and no, I’m not saying that he is or will be Favre; but he has some tendencies.

Cutler is 28 and has been widely inconsistent over his years in Denver and Chicago-Like Eli Manning, I don’t want to keep saying his picks will go down and he will learn not to make as many little mistakes. But his talent level is high and he is a winner with great confidence and will…he will break through in a major way and with some more weapons on offense; he will have a good year.

He threw for over 3,000 yards last season and over 20 touchdowns- that will continue to improve if given help on offense.

There’s not much to say about Christian Ponder and the Vikings…except for the fact that he might have been the surprise of the draft.   The 12^th pick of the draft has a long future ahead of him and although he doesn’t seem to possess the it factor that these other quarterbacks have, he is in a good position to have a good season if he plays and eventually a good career… last time I checked, he does have a top 2 or 3 running back to hand the ball to in Adrian Peterson.  Also, with a top tier defense, he and the Vikings should be in great shape.

When all is said and done, I won’t be shocked if Rodgers is a hall of famer with 2 to 3 rings, or if Cutler wins a super bowl, or even if Stafford and the rookie Ponder both enjoy long productive pro bowl careers.

Only time will tell if they all do… but as of right now, I have high expectations for all these teams and their respective signal callers.

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