Why did Gross retire?

[updownsigma]

No conspiracy, but you play to win a Super Bowl if you think you have a shot at it why not come back?

 

Because we're probably as far from a Super Bowl now as we were from the playoffs in 2010, if not further, and I don't think he wanted to make it a yearly thing to try to make a run at a SB as his body wore down. This way, he got to go out on his own terms.

[Mr. Scot]

I've heard it said before that the average length of an NFL player's career is one year too long.

That didn't happen to Gross. He leaves the game still looking pretty good.

[Jangler]

Wanted to be first in line for Episode VII.

[Scrumtrilescent]

He's too late then.

 

 

 

<<<

[MHS831]

Lets see here.  A guy has likely 15 million dollars in the bank tax-free, never has to work a day in his life at the age of 33, can do whatever he wants doesn't want to come back to the grueling grind of football for another year for what would likely be a smaller contract than he has played on before so he can hope his team wins it all this year.

 

And people think that there must be a conspiracy because he doesn't want to play.  As he said before he was pissed at Gettleman for screwing with his money and making him take a cut and decided last Fall it wasn't worth it anymore so he retired.  That isn't a conspiracy it is coming to terms with his end of his career.  The same thing Smitty is going through right now.

 

Absolutely.  Super Bowls are for the fans and the players who choose to drink that Kool-Aid, but the primary purpose is to make good money playing a game you are pretty good playing. It is a business, and most players don't make the millions he made.   Loyalty and rah rah are pretty silly things when you look at your wife and kids across the table and think, "I am rich, I am healthy.  Time to spend my time with them."

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Snake]

In the culture of our team as it is, to the old players going to the playoffs is winning the SB. Its why DG was brought in and so was Rivera. In two more years there will be no more of the Fox/Hurney era players that got paid for nothing.

[TylerVagyler]

Congrats, OP. You've made the worst thread of the offseason.

[LinvilleGorge]

I would've loved to have seen Gross come back for another season, but on the other hand, it's nice seeing a great player walk away from the game on his own term after one of his best seasons. Not oftenwe see that in pro sports. Most guys linger on well beyond their primes.

[SCP]

This reminds me of that scene in Joe Dirt where his dad is asking rhetorical questions like "How exactly is a rainbow made?" and "How exactly does the sun set?" and "How exactly does the positrack rear end on a Plymouth work?"

[Cary Kollins]

He wanted to spend more time trolling the huddle.

[thatlookseasy]

He's gonna follow in the footsteps of Ricky Williams and travel the world smoking weed

[csx]

He's gonna follow in the footsteps of Ricky Williams and travel the world smoking weed

 

It works for me.

[Mr. Scot]

Congrats, OP. You've made the worst thread of the offseason.

That looks to be a really competitive contest this year.

[hepcat]

He is 33-years old, has a wife and two young children, and made more money than he'll ever need.

Football is a dangerous sport and he was able to walk away under his own terms fully healthy. He played 11 seasons, played in a Super Bowl, and left the team 12-4 and in the hands of a young superstar QB.

Believe it or not, he has a life away from football and doesn't exist purely for your amusement and entertainment.

The better question is why the hell would he have bothered coming back for another year.

 

This is the answer.