By George Ofman
Chris Chelios is so old he walked into an antique store . . . and they kept him.
Chris Chelios is so old he has hieroglyphics on his driver’s license.
Chris Chelios is so old he fixed up Adam and Eve.
Okay, enough of the schtick. You get the picture.
Chelios isn’t really that old. But being a professional hockey player at age 47 is old. It’s actually downright ancient. “I’ve always said that when I am done playing will be when I have nothing left,” he once said. Apparently Chelios’s mind and body are still on the same page. It’s the same page the Gettysburg Address was written on.
Hey-o!
I thought we were done with the stand-up portion of this column.
Chelios is indeed an anomaly. He began his career when most of the Chicago Wolves he skated with on Monday weren’t even born. But there he was, trying to get into enough playing shape to extend his career . . . in the NHL. That’s where Chelios wants to be even though one would suspect most of the 30 teams that comprise the league likely believe he’s done.
First though, Methuselah on skates has to prove he can cut it with the Wolves. “It’ll take a week, week-and-a-half and I’ll be ready to go,” he said.
Don’t doubt him.
You can call this a marketing scheme by the Wolves and you wouldn’t be wrong. If this was, say, three years ago and Hawks President John McDonough was running the franchise then, he’d be selling Chelios as if he was the second coming of Bobby Hull.
Is the Evergreen Park native delusional?
Well, have you seen some of the NHL’s defensemen?
“Youth is wasted on the young.”
George Bernard Shaw scored a point with this line.
Remember when Chelios was traded to the Blackhawks? It was almost 19 years ago. And they dealt future Hall of Famer Denis Savard to Montreal to get him. Time flies unless you’re Chelios, who wants it to stand still.
Chelios, like most of us, has an ego. If you were 47 and owned a body that doesn’t quit, you might be applauding him. You might be anyhow.
But this is more than just ego.
Chelios loves the action. It’s in every vein that runs through his ageless body.
“I’m not just here to teach,” he says. No, Chelios wants to play. He still believes he can contribute.
But there does come a point when reality sets in.
Take a seat, reality. Chelios isn’t quite ready for you.
And it wasn’t ready for several other remarkable athletes who played well into their 40s and with pretty good success
Morten Andersen was still converting more than 80 percent of his field goal attempts from age 40 until he retired at 47.
Jamie Moyer won 16 games last season at age 45. He had 12 this season until an injury that likely will end his career.
Jack Nicklaus won the Masters at 46.
George Foreman won the WBA and IBF titles at 45.
Nolan Ryan threw two of his no-hitters in his 40s.
And then there was Gordie Howe, who scored 15 goals for the Hartford Whalers . . . at 51.
“Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.”
Thanks again, Mr. Shaw.
Chelios said he never had a goal to play until he was 50. Heck, my goal was to live until I was 50!
You might dismiss Chelios as a guy who just can’t cope with the end of his career. Many athletes have played long after their careers were past them. But I don’t begrudge Chelios at all. He’s earned the right to give it one last try. Why not? How many of us have said ‘I wish I would have done that?”
Thing is, Chelios has done that, and he’s done it so long you wonder when it will end.
Stay tuned. It hasn’t ended yet.
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George Ofman, an original member of The Score and a veteran of NPR, has covered more than 3,500 sporting events over the course of his career. Comments welcome.
Posted on October 14, 2009