Knowing When to Say When

ATTENTION, JERRY RICE. PLEASE take a look at the plight of Darrell Waltrip, another legend in another sport.

Similar to Rice in football, Waltrip was the king of the road in NASCAR. Waltrip won 83 races and two series championships, but he never visited Victory Lane after 1992. In fact, he spent the better part of the 1990s as a back-marker, a fate that hardly was becoming of someone of his stature.

But Waltrip kept showing up to the races anyway, prompting many people to wonder why he would continue to compete for so long after his skills had eroded, why he would take some of the luster away from one of stock car racing's greatest legacies.

For Waltrip, it was really quite simple. "Racing is not just my profession--it's been my life for as far back as I can remember," said the 53-year-old Waltrip, who finally called it quits after the 2000 season. "How would you like to wake up one morning and know that your life as you've always known it was over?"

And so it goes with Rice. One of the best players ever, Rice holds virtually every noteworthy receiving record. He's won NFL championships. He's won Super Bowl MVP awards. He's won league MVP awards.

But the one thing the San Francisco 49ers wideout hasn't been able to do is figure out when to hang 'em up. At 38, his best days are clearly behind him. Sure, there are still flickers of his former greatness--such as his two-touchdown performance against the Dallas Cowboys earlier this season--but those types of moments are becoming increasingly rare.

What's worse is that Rice fully intends to continue playing following this season. Why is this so disheartening? Because the odds are, he won't be suiting up for San Francisco, the team with which he has spent his entire career. Like Joe Montana and Steve Young, Rice is synonymous with the 49ers. The franchise, set on building around younger players, has even offered Rice a $1 million bonus if he retires after this season, a move meant to preserve the pristine nature of his legacy.

But Rice will have none of it. Like Waltrip, he says his passion for the game still is too intense for him to retire now, even if that means winding up on a second-tier team as a second-string player.

How sad. It would be like Waltrip running on empty for the final years of his career. Willie Mays hobbling around the outfield for the New York Mets. Franco Harris doing his best impersonation of a tackling dummy for the Seattle Seahawks. We don't like to remember our heroes this way.

So don't do it, Jerry. Quit while you're. ahead.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group