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Sports Daily: Mendenhall Retires, Bashes Commercialization

01:03 PM - March 10, 2014 by RaychelSnr

He's not a household superstar name, but he may become the new trend in the life of NFL players.

Rashard Mendenhall -- at the ripe age of 26 -- has decided to hang up his cleats and retire from the NFL. Citing a desire to pursue other passions in life as well as a distaste for the image-driven league, Mendenhall articulated his stance well through an article on Huffingtonpost.com:

Quote:

"My older brother coaches football at the high-school and youth level. One day he called me and said, "These kids don't want to work hard. All they wanna do is look cool, celebrate after plays, and get more followers on Instagram!" I told him that they might actually have it figured out."

Sound Off: Do you relate with Rashard Mendenhall? Has the image-oriented and commercialized aspect of the NFL damaged your love of football?

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Member Comments

# 21 elgreazy1 @ 03/11/14 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackceasar


	True but money talks. Look at Ricky Williams when he first retired and said he just wasn't into football anymore, wanted to go "find himself" bla bla bla.. next thing you know he realizes what child support payments look like for him. Next thing you know, he's "rediscovered" his love for the NFL. Sure people might assume the worst, but if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck.. it's probably a duck.

http://espn.go.com/30for30/film?page=run-ricky-run
It wasn't about the money, until the NFL and his teams made it about the money.

As for Mendenhall, I agree with a lot of his assertions. Society has changed drastically in the last decade and a lot has to do with social media, media, and athletes in general. The world is constantly plugged in while the ESPN's of the world look to sensationalize and feast on anything slightly news-worthy - I mean, how many updates to stories have we seen where the entire content is reposted Twitter feeds. Couple these with the fact that ego-maniac athletes now receive 24/7 attention and sports has created a culture within itself that Mendenhall chastised.

Sure, many of us dream of playing a professional sport, but how many of us are capable of sacrificing in a pressure-cooker situation the way these athletes do? It's not all glitz and glamour. It's constantly training, pushing onself, testing limits, resting and recovering your body, eating right, sleeping well, staying out of trouble when you have lots of money, not becoming a media target, never knowing when you're last day in the office will be and always looking over your shoulder for someone gunning to take your job. It can't be nearly as easy as lofting disapproving statements from our keyboards.

# 22 blackceasar @ 03/11/14 01:59 PM

Again, this "retirement and stance" coming from a scrub like Mendenhall really amounts to nothing. Tomlinson was an all time great RB with a HOF career and he pretty much made the same statement has Mendenhall did, but he did it on the field. He put his talents on display, got to the endzone, set and broke records in the process and did it all with class and style. Tomlinson was a man of action in this sense... Mendenhall is a man of words.

Until I see someone who's a bonafide star, having a great career and just hang it up at the peak of it and do it behind that same statement.. I'm not the least bit impressed.

# 23 Jr. @ 03/11/14 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OSUFan_88


	Try searching Mendenhall 9/11. I maintain that he is a loser and a scumbag.

I would comment but it's against the rules to discuss it here. I'll just agree to disagree.

# 24 NDAlum @ 03/11/14 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaiser Wilhelm


	That is just the Huffington Post. Their "journalism," if one can even call it that, is atrocious. Their articles usually have a smug attitude towards them because it's more of a blog than an actual news outlet. Whenever I see something from Huffington Post, I make sure to down a salt shaker before reading. .

Thank you

My entire point was the article came across as arrogant. Nowhere did I say Mendenhall was a bad person, that he sucked at football, or anything negative about him as a person.

For those saying I am a certain type of person, say what you want as I'm above the petty criticisms.

Doesn't that come off as arrogant? It should because I meant for it that way. Just like the way the article sounded.

Sent from my iPhone 5

# 25 Black4track @ 03/11/14 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NDAlum


	Thank you My entire point was the article came across as arrogant. Nowhere did I say Mendenhall was a bad person, that he sucked at football, or anything negative about him as a person. For those saying I am a certain type of person, say what you want as I'm above the petty criticisms. Doesn't that come off as arrogant? It should because I meant for it that way. Just like the way the article sounded. Sent from my iPhone 5

I saw an article on Byron Batch a few months back. Neat story.

I agree with Mendenhall. I believe social media has given people a bigger voice and influence then what they would have normally.

I met a single mom who lives in sub standard conditions, she has over 3000 followers on instagram. She works as a waitress in a hole in a wall bar Dont get me wrong shes a good person but 10 years ago she wouldn't of been that popular without the help of social media.

I think Mendenhall is smart to retire. If you know your career is not going in the direction you would like it to go, then why would you continue to do it and jeopardize your body?

# 26 Fresh Tendrils @ 03/12/14 01:22 PM

I think he has valid points, but his motive kind of kills whatever genuine inspiration he actually had for the article and retiring.

# 27 TheMatrix31 @ 03/13/14 11:54 PM

It is thoroughly okay to judge someone based on what they give us to work with.

# 28 SteelersFreak @ 03/14/14 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TripleCrown9


	Meanwhile Baron Batch, a one time teammate of Mendenhall, has also retired from football, and is a painter, volunteer, and motivational speaker. Just last week, 3 of his paintings raised 10,000 dollars for a charity. But nobody talks about that lol.

Mendenhall is a much bigger name than Baron Batch, this is a silly complaint.

It's pretty obvious Mendy was looking at a small contract, didn't feel like playing for such a small amount compared to what he got in the past so he decided to "hang it up" and make some nice inspiring comments.

Although I do think he's telling the truth a bit, he never seemed like he improved in his career. He got better at not fumbling with the Steelers and it was okay for a while until a few years ago where it came back. He was a pretty stagnant so maybe he just wasn't into it like he needed to be.

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