I didn’t get to watch Brett’s new conference yesterday because of that darn job thing getting in the way of TV watching, but my lovely wife was kind enough to DVR it for me.  I keep coming back to the same word — wow.  I just can’t think of a better one.  And for those of you expecting some kind of miracle change of heart, it ain’t gonna happen.  He even said it, “It’s over.” were his words.

He’s tired.  That was obvious yesterday.  I believe him when he says he doesn’t have any more left to give.  I also believe it was obvious that this was not an easy decision or an easy press conference for him.  Hell, my eyes were watering up and I was just sitting on the couch working on my laptop.  And, as appropriate, he ad-libbed the whole thing.  He didn’t have anything written down or prepared.  He stood up there and talked from the heart.

He still wants to play, he just doesn’t have that drive anymore to do everything that’s needed to play.  I’m sure the competitor in him was screaming to get out and change the decision while he sat at that table.  He hasn’t quit on anything in his entire life.  This had to be hard.

You know, I’ve been watching my parents and in-laws go through the whole “should I retire or shouldn’t I” debate.  It’s a difficult decision for them to arrive at, and I see the internal struggles they have with that decision.  But, they don’t have to answer to adoring fans live on camera while the signal is broadcast around the world.  Talk about making a difficult decision nearly impossible.  In some ways, I think it’s almost easier for these guys to hang ‘em up due to injury.  But, he can still play.  He proved that.  And he can still play his way.  What a hard way to go out.

On the plus side, he gets to go out on his terms.  The hero rides off into the sunset.  Who knew being a hero was such a tough gig?