Why NFL Stars Hung 'Em Up Early

ByABC News
January 6, 2005, 11:13 AM

Jan. 8, 2005 — -- It was in the last week of July, just seven weeks before the start of the National Football League season, that Miami Dolphins star running back Ricky Williams abandoned his pro football career and his team.

His sudden retirement eviscerated the Dolphins' offense and the team foundered.

"I was completely surprised," said Dave Wannstedt, the former Dolphins head coach -- who himself threw in the towel just after the Dolphins stumbled to a 1-8 start.

When Wannstedt quit, many people were sympathetic. But when Williams dropped out, most fans and journalists were baffled and angry.

However, Robert Smith, a two-time Pro Bowl running back with the Minnesota Vikings, says he understood.

"That sense of freedom and that weight being lifted," Smith said, "I mean, that's something that's really hard for people to understand: How people that have the ability to actually perform at that level wouldn't love it the same way that they do."

Smith holds many of the Vikings' all-time rushing records, even though he retired at the age of 28, after his best season.

He decided he would hang up his cleats while he was, "under the knife once again -- fourth time that I'd been in there in knee surgery, third time on the right knee. And [I] was thinking, 'I didn't even have a major injury this season and I'm still getting this thing cleaned out. How much longer do I want to do this?' "

In sports, as in showbiz, one of the enduring myths is the idea, perhaps the fantasy, of quitting at the very top. But with few exceptions, big-league performers don't have that luxury. More often than not, the decision is made for them.

To paraphrase a famous philosopher, "Life in the NFL is nasty, brutish and short." The average pro career lasts less than four years. The average player's age is 27.

For those elite players lucky enough to get out on top, the decision to give it all up can be gut-wrenching. Former NFL quarterback Troy Aikman was prompted to deliver an emotional farewell when he decided to retire instead of moving to another team after the Dallas Cowboys cut him in 2001.

"You watch and you think that your time will never come," Aikman said. "And my time's come."