Dan Gainor
2008-04-24 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

You can learn a lot about life through sports. You can aspire to be like Cal Ripken Jr. and exemplify the American work ethic. You can manage people like Peter Angelos and Bob Irsay and run your businesses into the ground. And you can retire like Steve McNair — full of class and ready for the next stage of life.

Retirement. It’s a scary concept for most Americans. We are the worker bees of the world. Europeans rave about their five or six weeks of vacation. Many of us get two and don’t even use all of it.

The first of 75 million baby boomers reached retirement age this year. That will help create a national conversation about aging. We live longer than ever, and those scary years loom ahead for everyone. They await us like speed-limit signs — 55, when we begin the “golden” years; 62, when some can collect part of Social Security; 65, the old retirement age; and 67, another Social Security milestone.

AARP practically robs the cradle — bombarding anyone 50-plus with mail about joining a group “dedicated to enhancing quality of life for all as we age.”

That’s the world McNair is entering, at the young age of 34. (That’s 92 in quarterback years.) It looked as if McNair was going to try to overcome the injuries of 2007. No one would have blamed him. He came within a foot of a huge comeback to tie the Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV. If he wanted to take another shot, the team and the fans would have been behind him.

“It was a very difficult decision,” McNair said. He wanted to play, but knew his body had suffered too much damage. “My mind was telling me, ‘Yes,’ and my body was like, ‘No, what are you doing?’ ” he told The Associated Press.

That took maturity — the very reason the Ravens brought him to Baltimore in the first place. McNair faces a question that won’t hit most of us for a few more years. What will the second act be like? Will we play endless rounds of golf? Travel the globe? Volunteer? Or maybe keep working, but not so driven for career success?

I’m not worried about McNair. His courage and leadership would spell success in any field. But what of the rest of us? It certainly won’t be easy. New retirees have saved less than their parents and can expect to inherit less as well. Throw in a crisis of Social Security funding and retirement might not be a walk on the beach.

That isn’t all bad. Retirees are a great resource of knowledge and skill. You can’t fault anyone for wanting to take it easy after 40, 50 or more years of work. But that is a waste. Employers and nonprofits should learn from McDonald’s and Wal-Mart and involve older workers. We all benefit when they do.

I wish the same result for every retiree that I wish for Steve McNair. Retire, but stay in the game.