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Motivation Quote by Robbie Fowler

"It sounds mercenary and it smacks of rats leaving the sinking ship. But get real, when everyone is bailing out, you don't want to be the last man standing"

About this Quote

Robbie Fowler isn’t dressing this up as loyalty or romance; he’s naming the ugly logic that often governs careers in elite sport. The line opens with a preemptive flinch: “mercenary,” “rats leaving the sinking ship.” He knows exactly how fans and clubs moralize departures, especially when a team is in decline. By voicing the accusation himself, he disarms it. Then he pivots with the blunt corrective that athletes rarely get permission to say out loud: “get real.”

The subtext is economic and reputational triage. A footballer’s prime is short, contracts are fragile, and form is judged weekly. Staying “for the badge” can read as noble in the stands, but in the boardroom it can look like a depreciating asset clinging to a bad bet. Fowler’s “when everyone is bailing out” hints at a wider loss of faith inside an organization: teammates, staff, even ownership signaling the project is over. In that environment, loyalty becomes less a virtue than a liability.

The kicker is the image of “the last man standing.” It’s not heroism; it’s exposure. Being the final holdout means taking the blame, absorbing the instability, and watching your market value sink alongside the club. Fowler frames departure as self-preservation, not betrayal, capturing a modern sports truth: institutions demand loyalty, but they rarely return it at the same personal cost.

Quote Details

TopicQuitting Job
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Fowler, Robbie. (2026, January 16). It sounds mercenary and it smacks of rats leaving the sinking ship. But get real, when everyone is bailing out, you don't want to be the last man standing. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-sounds-mercenary-and-it-smacks-of-rats-leaving-94798/

Chicago Style
Fowler, Robbie. "It sounds mercenary and it smacks of rats leaving the sinking ship. But get real, when everyone is bailing out, you don't want to be the last man standing." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-sounds-mercenary-and-it-smacks-of-rats-leaving-94798/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It sounds mercenary and it smacks of rats leaving the sinking ship. But get real, when everyone is bailing out, you don't want to be the last man standing." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-sounds-mercenary-and-it-smacks-of-rats-leaving-94798/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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Robbie Fowler (born April 9, 1975) is a Athlete from England.

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