How Old is Too Old?

With the news of Joe Paterno's contract extension at Penn State and Roger Clemens playing so well with the Astros, Gothamist is wondering, at what age are you too old to be in sports? Joe Paterno is 77 right now and with his extension, he has the potential to coach until he is 81. Roger Clemens is 41 and pitching so well with the Astros that Gothamist wonders if he'll pitch another season.

We don't want to be agiest, but there has to be a time when you hang it up. If you're playing well, as in Clemens's case, by all means, keep playing if it's going to make you happy. But if you're just coaching away and not really performing to expectations, isn't it time to retire? We know that many Nitanny Lions fans want JoPa to retire so the program can move into the next era. This may sound unreasonable, but Paterno's teams haven't played up to expectations, going 22-26 since 1999. Sure, it will be difficult for Penn State to move on when Paterno leaves, after all, he's been the head coach for 38 seasons, but sooner has got to be better than later.

Some other old sports personalities that come to mind are Karl Malone (40) and Lenny Wilkens (66).