Back when the NFL Wild Card playoff round wrapped up several weeks ago, I saw an article noting that the oldest quarterback remaining after that round was 29 years old and that was Dak Prescott of the Cowboys before they were bounced in the Divisional Round. The day before I wrote this piece Tom Brady announced his second and – what I assume to be – his final retirement. Now the two Super Bowl quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are 27 and 23 respectively, and it has me thinking about how quickly time is passing.
Much of my football watching life has been spent watching the greats of the 2000s including Brady, the Manning brothers, Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger and many more, but now they are all retired, giving way to the young bucks like Mahomes, Hurts, Joe Burrow and Josh Allen. It truly feels like the end of an era for the NFL and even aspects of my own life.
Now I’m sure many of our readers have been through this point as well, when greats like Joe Montana, John Elway and Dan Marino retired from their NFL careers, but I wanted to reflect on how it feels like things are changing watching the icons of my childhood move on from their NFL careers.
Watching Brady retire specifically feels like the door slamming shut on my childhood because my first football memory was watching his first Super Bowl with the Patriots all the way back in 2001. For all but four years of my life he was in the NFL.
However, that’s not to say that I am not excited to see what’s next for these young NFL quarterbacks taking the league by storm. I think we are going to be treated to excellent matchups between the likes of Mahomes, Allen, Hurts and Burrow, all of whom have the chance to join the likes of the greats of the past. Mahomes specifically could be the best quarterback the NFL has ever seen.
Now I look around at our company and the staff we have on our news team along with the changes that have been made over the past several months, specifically with Mike Dobbs retiring and Payton North taking over the role of executive editor, while I slid into the role of Hampshire County managing editor. Both of us are still just in our 20s but have already moved up to significant roles here.
Looking at our young reporters, we have some people doing great work just a few years out of college, and I am proud to call them my colleagues because of how hard they work and the quality of the stories they are putting out week in and week out. The future is certainly bright for the Reminder Publishing news team and I’m excited to see the journalists they continue to grow into.
That’s not to say that I am also not incredibly proud and thankful of everyone who isn’t in their 20s here, because much like an NFL locker room, they are the veterans that helped show us the way to do things and become better journalists by following their example.
Seeing these NFL careers end in the blink of an eye also has me thinking about how fast time is beginning to accelerate, where the weeks are starting to feel like days and just giving me a reminder to enjoy what I can of my youth, which I fully intend to do for as long as I possibly can. Sure, the future can be scary too, but I’m excited to grab the reins of my own future and see what’s in store.
Looking at how the youth is starting to take the reins, not only in the NFL but also in my life, has me excited for the future to see just what us twenty-somethings are capable of, because I think we’re off to a great start.
