Off Season Foreplay

It’s March, time for March Madness, the NBA is on the road to the playoffs, Major League Baseball’s in Spring Training and the Easter Bunny is showing its pink bunny butt at the local stores.

So NFL, what have you done for me lately?

The answer is, not a hell of a lot. But here’s a news flash!

Brett Favre Retires … finally. This is the biggest news thus far in the NFL since the NY Giants upset the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Brett Favre is the epitome of Old School Football. He plays with passion and enthusiasm. He plays regardless of personal pain or injury. He plays when family tragedy strikes. He plays even when his team stinks.

So let’s wish Number Four the best as he steps away from the game he has played since he was a little boy. He is sure to miss his teammates, their camaraderie, the smell of sweat and the locker room humor.

But let’s remember what the retirement of the man in the family does to the family, and specifically to the wife. In the world of sports, in this case Professional Football, the woman in the relationship has taken on the role of handyman, father, mother, coach, cook, nurse, chauffeur and everything in between. The athlete spends his every waking hour absorbed in his profession, his training, his health, his playbook and his career.
The wife runs the show during the pre-season and the regular season. She has established a routine, a system, and management technique for balancing her family’s needs with very little, if any input from the athlete she shares her bed with.

In a normal home when the man retires he is typically over sixty years old and ready for afternoon naps. But, when an athlete retires he is still young and vibrant and used to being in control of his destiny. Letting go of all that power and control and merging that identity on the home front can be very difficult.

Brett may have a tough time transitioning, but his family will also face a difficult transition as “dad” starts showing up every single morning, every single day, forever!