Hines Ward Peyton

Hines Ward Peyton, It’s not an extreme scenario where keeping Ward will keep the Steelers from winning. Instead, it’s about showing respect and honor near the end of a player’s career instead of after it. “NFL stands for Not For Long.”

There are many mantras to describe the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately culture of the National Football League, and every season brings another round of reminders to players that they are nothing more than assets within a business. Despite an industry where money is made on the facade of tradition and loyalty, today’s NFL franchise is happy to look past the contributions of a player 9.9 times out of 10 in order to be more cost-effective, more efficient, etc.

The Kansas City Chiefs, for example, just watched the best offensive lineman on the team walk last off-season and the rumors were circulated that Brian Waters was past his prime and washed up. The duo of Ryan Lilja and Jon Asamoah was supposed to be better than anything Waters could add to the team and the Chiefs were going younger and (supposedly) better. One year later, Waters is named to yet another Pro Bowl and plays for the Super Bowl for the first time in his career protecting Tom Brady for the Patriots.