WTF Friday: What Makes a Legend

I made it very clear in the comments that I didn't believe Clarence Seedorf is a Milan Legend. I also made it clear that I don't like him very much.

He is a false idol...

He is not a true Rossoneri in the sense of Senators before him. He is Leonardo version 2.0, a favorite a management because he will push their agenda and when the going gets tough he has no answers. Donadoni is the future of this team, Seedorf is a fleeting present. These results are buying time for an inevitable demise…

While i don’t claim to have foresight, my inclination in these things have been good over my seven years here.

Now I fully understand my statements above are entirely subjective. I also don't expect or need anyone to align with my idea's above. I do; however, ask that if you are going to question my comments on what makes a Legend, then you should offer what you believe makes a legend. The photo for me above is the proverbial definition, he is it, Maldini that is. Now there are a few like him, but before we dig into that let me make some things clear. It's not that I don't want to say people are Legends, but the mere word means something more then throwing it around doesn't it? To say someone is a World Class or a Legend is one of the highest compliments a person can be paid so if you say everyone is a Legend it cheapens the whole idea of what it means.

For me a Legend transcends the Club, and the group is select. Milan has been home to numerous World Class Superstars but not of all them Legends. A Legend is a player who lives for the shirt, raised in the shirt, fought for the shirt in good times and in bad. A Legend is not someone who cuts their teeth in the brightest lights, a Legend often makes his name when times are the toughest. A Legend doesn't just soak up the praise but they deflect the negative, they don't lay blame they work harder. They don't talk about luck they talk about hard work! Milan has had a few of these guys, but as I said earlier the list is short, very short, and I think I made my point. A Legend is born and raised in and by this Club, a one Club man, a cornerstone.

LEGENDS: Maldini, Baresi, Costacurta

That's it, I could argue guys like Gattuso, Donadoni, Tassotti, and even Ambrosini until the cows come home. 300 matches, time in the youth team, stuck with the Club thick and thin. These are Legends. Milan has had their far share of Super Stars and names like Kaka, Seedorf, Shevchenko, Gullit, Rijkaard, Boban, and Pippo are all very high up on the list but for me they are not Legends and if the aformentioned short list can be debated time and time again. That is the nature of opinion and the beauty of the debate that is born out of football.