This thread is nothing more than a rehashed version of that tattered argument, "If the man wants to play, let him play. He's earned the right to do what he pleases."
I've been holding in my frustration against this argument -- I heard it on Fox Sports Radio again on Friday -- for a long time now, but I'm finally going to let it out.
"If he wants to play, let him play" vastly understates the seriousness of the NFL. In fact, it downright trivializes it. This isn't Pop Warner football, where coaches are supposed to find a way to get every kid playing time. The NFL isn't a feel-good league; it's a big business, a
professional league in which very few people -- only about 1500 at any given time -- are good enough to have the privilege to play, and only a fraction of them ever set foot on the field in a given season.
The NFL is a billion-dollar industry comprising teams with $125 million rosters. Last year Brett Favre made approximately $13 million, and I don't see any way he plays for less than $7 million this year. That is a huge investment just coming off surgery at the age of 39 following a less-than-stellar season and a virtually inactive offseason.
You don't just "let the man play." You have to make damn sure he's the right man for your team and that he'll give you a return on your investment. Anything less is irresponsible at best and career ending at worst.
No matter what the maudlin sentimentalists like to think, no one earns a right to play in the NFL. As with any industry, you remain employed only as long as you bring value to the company, and like it or not, once your usefulness has passed, you are replaced as expeditiously as possible.
Let the man play? No. Let the man earn the chance to play.