Take on the retirement

We all say that athletes should retire a year too soon rather than a year too late but it isn't true. The idea is that we don't want to see a broken down Peyton Manning or Joe Namath trying to hold onto a glimmer of hope when their body has failed them. The problem is the ones that leave too early like Barry Sander, Calvin Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Michael Jordan the 1st and 2nd times deprive us of what we assume would have been great years. Of course they leave on their terms and when they do it's completely their prerogative but as fans we yearn for more. These generation athletes hanging it up adds to their legacy but also takes away from it as we wonder how good they may have been for their careers.