Loyalty's Labour Lost

Loyalty. It’s on the verge of extinction. It really is.

Anybody who has been following sports for the last several months understand exactly what I mean. For months … literally months … we’ve watch the divorce between the Indianapolis Colts and their premier quarterback Peyton Manning. For those of you who perhaps don’t read the sports pages, here’s the rundown:

Manning sat out all of last year with a neck injury that required four surgeries to fix, questions abound about his ability to come back and play well, he was due a bonus should the club pick up his option on top of a salary on par for one of the best players in the game. Ownership cut ties … Manning signed with the Broncos today.

Manning has won four MVPs and one Super Bowl. He’s been a contender his entire career. He’s a stud. He’s been the face of that franchise for well over a decade. He is the closest thing that Indianapolis has to a local hero. He’s beloved.

He’s now a Bronco.

Did ownership make the right decision? From a payroll standpoint? Maybe. From an ability to contend and rebuild for the future standpoint? Probably. From a stand by your man and show loyalty to the most revered Colt since Unitas? No. Not at all. Not at freaking all.

This on the heels of Albert Pujols signing with the Angels. Pujols has been the face of the St Louis Cardinals baseball franchise for the past decade as well. He just won a World Series. He is a beloved sports figure in St Louis … perhaps only second to Stan “The Man” Musial. His contract expired and, as the best player in the game, he was looking to capitalize. He went for the money and left St Louis … the place that embraced him and made him a star. He disappointed a lot of people … for a few million extra bucks.

Stan “The Man” played twenty-two seasons in St Louis and is a twenty-four time All Star. In 1943, Musial held out at spring training to straighten out his contract with the Cards … the issue was resolved … and even though he was offered more money many, many times (once to even play in the Mexican Leagues), he never left St Louis. He was loyal to the team, the franchise, to ownership and to the fans. As far as I’m concerned, that’s what makes him “The Man,” not the gaudy stats he piled up and the championships he won.

Oh … and let’s not forget the Lebron James / Cleveland debacle.

Loyalty in sports in a lost art form.

The same holds true in all aspects of life.

In a day and age when more marriages end in divorce than don’t, how could we not feel otherwise. We are living in the age of self-gratification. We are living in the “me-first” era. And I hate it.

Whatever happened to standing by your loved ones when things get difficult? What happened to making concessions for the better of those who have been good to you? Whatever happened to putting another person’s needs and desires ahead of your own? Whatever happened to working together, making compromises and pursuing the future hand-in-hand together?

Don’t answer. You don’t know.

We don’t take the difficult path anymore. Rather than stand side-by-side to move forward, we cut ties and run. There is no “love, honor and cherish until death we do part” anymore. Now we just “love, honor and cherish … so long as it suits my needs at the moment.” There is no “all for one and one for all” anymore. There is only “one for me and me for me while I’m at it.” Since there is no “I” in “team” … we’ll just stop using the word “team.” We are the selfish generation.

Over the last several years I’ve heard some variation of “for me” (“I’m doing this for me,” “I need some me time,” “what’s best for me”) more and more and more. Then those rare occasions come along where we do something for somebody else … and then stand there, looking in both directions for somebody to pat us on the back.

In an effort to shed payroll, the Pittsburgh Steelers recently cut longtime receiver Hines Ward. Although his production had decreased in recent years, Ward was still a valuable asset and could take his skills anywhere in the NFL. He could seek out one more payday. Instead … he retired. Retired a Steeler. He put his loyalty to the club, the city and fans before his own. He put selfishness aside and preserved his legacy in Steeler-lore.

Musial was “The Man.” Hines Ward has just proven that he is “The Man.”

Too bad there aren’t more “Men” out there. I, for one though, will keep trying …