For most players, the most difficult part of retiring is being
able to listen to what their body is saying. This applies to all
sports, but it’s especially prevalent in football, with the
bruising physical grind potentially leading to an ACL pop on any
given week.  Efforts to ignore messages from the body are
fruitless for football players, and only lead to a hobbled
existence in retirement. Even Brett Favre, the NFL’s bionic man,
finally listened to his body this past season and sat on the
sidelines during a game for the first time, halting his record
of 321 consecutive starts. Now he’s finally walked away for
good, or at least that’s what we’ve all been led to believe.
It’s still only July.  Kris Jenkins has played only seven games
over the past two seasons due to severe ACL injuries. He
received those same messages, and they finally trumped his
desire to play.  The former Jets and Panthers defensive tackle
announced his retirement today, ending a 10-year career. He was
very 2011 when making the announcemen