A plea to Michael Phelps regarding his comeback
by Chris Chase, USA TODAY Sports
Thursday's news that Michael Phelps has rejoined the USADA drug testing pool is the latest of many signs the Olympic legend will be making a comeback for the Rio Olympics. Phelps has been dropping subtle hints about a return while also playing into the comeback rumors with tongue-in-cheek jokes. It seems he's been doing this forever, even though it's only been 14 months since he walked away from the sport.
Most of the swimming world - from journalists to fans to the FINA president to Ryan Lochte - is convinced and hopeful of a Phelps return, so his playful misdirections have been met with a laugh. But now that his comeback story is making into the sports mainstream, Phelps would be wise to declare his intent the instant he knows it. No one likes a Brett Favre.
Here's what Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, had to say about his swimmer's return on Thursday to USA TODAY Sports:
'It's premature to say [he's coming back]. What we're doing is kind of letting him have his options. [...] He's occasionally been training. He's picked it up a little more. We were just thinking about it, and I said, 'You know, you're getting in pretty good shape, maybe you want to swim in a meet?' He said, 'Well, maybe at some point.''
All of that makes perfect sense. Rejoining the drug testing pool is a necessary evil. Because of the regulations of testing and qualifications, Phelps can't up and decide to get back in the pool without submitting to prior testing. He has to leave the door open whatever way he can.
So if Phelps doesn't yet know and is leaving his options open, then he shouldn't say anything until he's sure. Ian Thorpe tried to get back into the pool and his comeback was a disaster. The circumstances with Phelps are different - he's been out for just over a year, Thorpe was out of the water for five - but there's no use being hasty in making a major life decision. Who's to say Phelps will have the same drive? If he returns to the pool and doesn't have the fire to compete or discovers his 28-year-old body can't handle the physical toll of early morning workouts, he can bail without problem. It will be the comeback that wasn't.
The difference between Phelps and Favre, so far, is sincerity. Whatever was going on in Brett Favre's mind, the public perception was that all his retirements and stop-and-start comebacks were part of some egomaniacal desire to be the center of attention. Maybe that was true and maybe it wasn't. It didn't matter. Perception is 9/10ths of reality.
The perception has changed. People think Phelps is coming back and that he's merely stringing along the announcement. He has practical reasons to do so. But the longer his indecision goes on, the more people will tire of Phelps, who still has all the built-up goodwill he earned during the greatest Olympic career in history. It happened to Favre, who burned off most of the love with his Hamlet in a helmet routine.
Phelps will hope to avoid that, as well as the other perils Brett Favre's comeback brought. Once he returned to the NFL the first time, Favre never got back on top.
See the article on USA Today
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