Redskins Su'a Cravens Is Considering Early Retirement, And You'd Have To Be Some Kind Of Stupid To Criticize Him For It

PFT- When Washington took the practice field Sunday morning, starting safety Su'a Cravens wasn’t there.And it apparently took some quick work by the front office to reel him back in.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Cravens told some teammates yesterday he intended to retire, but met with team officials and has changed his mind “for now.”

Cravens needed surgery in mid-August for a knee injury, and was expected to be back in time for the opener.

​It’s unclear why he was ready to step away, or whether this is a permanent reconciliation. Mike Jones of the Washington Post said it’s not the first time Cravens has considered walking away, so this may be an ongoing situation.

Redskins officially placed 22-year-old safety Su'a Cravens, who is mulling retirement, on their Exempt/Left Squad list.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 3, 2017

​I don't want to make it sound like I don't understand the frustrations of Washington Redskins' fans. Having your starting safety up and quit a week before the season starts isn't exactly an enviable situation that leaves those with a vested interest thinking rationally about a player prioritizing their life over their position. That said, feeling so fanatically inclined to supporting anything and everything that could potentially make a dysfunctional organization slightly more successful that you completely ignore the physical and mental toll that football has already clearly taken on an athlete requires a frightening lack of compassion.

Put aside the obvious untimeliness of what appears to be an inevitable retirement, and tell me who sounds more logical in this clip...

Training camp video of Will Compton talking with Su'a Cravens about what drives him. Interesting then, more so now pic.twitter.com/x7bIz4eNcY

— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayCSN) September 3, 2017

Is it the guy that is trying to inspire a teammate to repeatedly put his body and brain on the line on behalf of those who happen to have been paid to wear the same color shirt? Or maybe, just maybe, is it the guy longing for the day that he gets to stop slamming his head into that of his peers when there isn't even a final score to worry about? Call me crazy, but the person that had his eyes opened to the light that is life after football after he literally found himself blinded to it via a concussion that temporarily cost him his vision might be on to something here.

Those that are calling Su'a Cravens selfish must have actively avoided mirrors for the entirety of their adult lives. That's honestly the only explanation I have for the level of shame being spewed by people whose last mind-numbing hit came from a bong. It's almost as if they don't realize that the performance that they associate with an over-indulgence in booze and finger foods might be viewed viewed differently by those that associate it with a week's worth of crippling pain. 

Never mind those that think an NFL player should feel obligated to play out a non-guaranteed contract that could easily be terminated if he were literally half a step slow in slamming into an oncoming, superhuman athlete at full speed. I don't even want to attempt to teach them the definition of hypocrisy when they barely understand the concept of humanity.

Don't get me wrong, I love myself some football. I just also realize that - regardless of the amount of zeroes on the paycheck - you have be at least mildly psychotic to play it on the highest level. The NFL exploits the false narrative that their league is the end-all, be-all for a vast majority of it's most labor-intensive employees, and I'm supposed to feel sympathy for one team that may lose the services of one of their 53 players? I know it wasn't Su'a Cravens' intention to give a middle finger to management, but I'll be damned if it's not a long time coming that they finally had one waved in their face. 

Of course, as a fan I like to believe that the players I am rooting for want nothing more than to sacrifice themselves at any and all costs to make a play, but I can't - in good conscience - pretend like I don't understand how fundamentally flawed that thought process is. I suppose you can say that Su'a Cravens isn't the toughest guy in the world (from behind a computer screen while sitting on your couch), but don't - for a goddamn second - think that he's not smarter than those criticizing him for looking out for his own best interests. Especially when the alternative is to risk his (short and long term) health for an organization that couldn't give a less of fuck about him when he takes off his pads and becomes an actual person...

Su'a Cravens on Snapchat: "I don't feel like I need to explain myself. ...I think I need to follow what makes me happy." #Redskins pic.twitter.com/JVwglZtnU4

— Master Tesfatsion (@MasterTes) September 4, 2017