This past month Marshawn Lynch ,one of the NFL’s best running backs retired after just nine seasons. The question that everybody has been asking is why. I mean his team has appeared in all three of the last 3 Super Bowls. Why not stay and build a franchise or maybe a dynasty?

According to NFL.com “It was just a year ago that Lynch was drawing raves as the best running back in football after leading the league in rushing touchdowns for two consecutive seasons”. Well, first Lynch was injured most of the 2015-2016 season and his back up running back put up some pretty impressive numbers. If I was Lynch the question “Is it worth it?” would have popped up in my head a couple of times. But with 50 million in the bank Lynch is probably doing just fine in his retirement life.

With other players though, when is the time to call it quits? Calvin Johnson did it around the age of 30. According to him the game left him “in pain”. Jake Locker hung up the cleats at age 26 due to the lost of a desire to keep playing. Another NFL player retired thinking that the next concussion might kill him.

With all these cases it’s usually health related. Years of playing football can cause many  health issues down the road, many of them long term. The constant wear and tear can cause severe arthritis and joint pain. Being a big linemn can cause obesity which then snowballs into diabetes, apena, and other cardiovascular disorders. In Will Smith’s movie Concussion he plays a doctor who tries to bring light to how football causes brain damage. The story portrayed in Concussion and countless other stories just like it  makes one think about the effects of some of the unhealthy habits in life. We should ask ourselves is it really worth it? We should be cautious about what we do and how we take care of our bodies because it can affect us in the long run.