Tiki's Retirement a Good Thing. But not for Collinsworth.

The best thing Tiki Barber could have done at this stage of his football career was retire, and Chris Collinsworth's remarks to the contrary are surprising. As a retired pro who surely wakes up with aches and pains and has a lifelong subscription to Advil, Collinsworth must understand the virtue of getting out of football while one's body is still relatively intact.
That Tiki is still relatively healthy and has not sustained any single serious injury is the best reason to get his 31 year old body out now. He's enjoyed a long career and still performs at his best, but taking his age into account, the start of an inevitable athletic decline is imminent. Tiki's recent comments about the increasing toll each Sunday's game has taken on his body hints that such a decline may already have begun. It would slowly tarnish the memory of years of great performances, culminating in the last regular season game he played, the best single game of his career.
Tiki has shown a high level of intelligence, maturity and foresight that is uncommon among professional athletes. He understands that few pro running backs have made it much past their early 30's. There is no reward for declining performance, especially if it results in injury that makes the remainder of life a pain filled nightmare. His team, the New York Giants, seem to be going nowhere, making it doubtful that more years would bring more fun than he's already had. And Tiki has made it clear that his passion for the game has waned.
So, what was Chris Collinsworth thinking when he said that Tiki Barber made a mistake by retiring early? Maybe Collinsworth is jealous of young athletes able to play at their best. These are the people he has to admiringly talk about every weekend as he announces NFL games. Inside his own mind he might be making comparisons, saying to himself that such and such player is good, but couldn't compare with Chris Collinsworth in his day. But Collinsworth is no longer an elite athlete, and maybe he hates himself because of it. It must be extremely frustrating for an individual who has built his success on his body to watch as that same body inevitably and unceasingly declines. Maybe Collinsworth's criticism of Tiki's decision to retire is really about being afraid to face up to the fact that all athletic careers eventually come to an end. Even Collinsworth's.