Things NFL Players Don't Need From Me, And Things I Don't Need From NFL Players

Tua Tagovailoa doesn't need my advice on whether he should retire now that he's on injured reserve after his third (known) concussion on the field.

The only advice he needs is the advice he either thinks he should listen to (friends, loved ones, trusted doctors, etc.), or has no choice but to listen to (presumably the Dolphins, Roger Goodell, and/or other NFL officials could make that kind of decision for him whether he agrees or not).

Yes, he seems to be financially secure if he decides to pack it in. But he clearly loves playing football (you don't just happen to end up playing for the Crimson Tide and the Dolphins; that takes talent and hard work and focused commitment and overwhelming desire).

Fans' concern for his health is all good and well, but the fans don't get to make this decision for him. We just get to wish him the best with whatever decision he makes.

I don't need Brett Favre's lectures on whether or not I'm sufficiently "patriotic." He was a football player. Since then, he's been an actor and, allegedly, a corporate welfare cheat. None of those things qualify him to teach me, or anyone else, about patriotism -- whether it's good or bad, and whether we possess enough, not enough, or too much of it.

But I am going to put in a plug for a movie he turned up in: There's Something About Mary. I won't spoil your fun if you haven't seen it, but it also features my favorite musician of all time: Jonathan Richman. Here's Richman performing the theme song from the movie (live, not in the movie so as to not risk any spoilers):