What’s Left vs. What’s Next

This past Sunday, 64-year-old Andy Reid coached the Kansas City Chiefs to their second Super Bowl win in as many years—a feat last accomplished exactly twenty years ago. It marks the third time the Chiefs have won the Super Bowl during the past five years.

The game’s MVP was 28-year-old Patrick Mahomes. This was also the second time he has achieved such recognition in as many years—and, like the team he leads, it is his third time during the past five years.

After the game, an off-camera announcer asked Mahomes the question posed to Super Bowl MVPs every year for the past 36 years: “Patrick Mahomes, you just won the Super Bowl! What are you going to do next?” To which Mahomes replied, “I’m going to Disneyland!”

Conversely, in a pre-game interview with retired NFL coach Bill Cowher, Reid was asked an entirely different question: “If you have a chance to win a Super Bowl, is there any chance Andy Reid coached his final game?” To which Reid replied, “I get asked that. I’m good. I feel great. They say it just hits you, (but) it hasn’t hit me.”

Now, as reported by CBS Sports, Reid has never had a losing season with Kansas City in his 11 years as head coach—and he’s had double-digit winning seasons in each of the last 10. It’s also important to note that while Bill Cowher retired from coaching at the age of 49, Reid’s winning streak with the Chiefs didn’t even begin until he was 53. And based on comments made by Chiefs’ players Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and others, the Kansas City Chiefs are “just getting started.”

Which begs the question, why does the one of the most frequently-asked questions of people in their 60’s and beyond—including those seemingly at the top of their game—constantly default to something along the lines of “You’ve accomplished this great thing! Now, are you going to retire?” Had the situation been reversed, would Bill Cowher have posed that same question to 44-year-old Kyle Shanahan, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers? I suspect not.

Sadly, the prevalence of ageism in the workplace extends beyond the office to include the gridiron—and the press box.

But, shouldn’t the goal of our work lives be to pursue careers we love so much, we can’t even fathom retiring? I say, we should all be so lucky!

Because for many older adults (including yours truly), it’s not a matter of what’s left—it’s a matter of WHAT’S NEXT?