New York Jets’ Trevor Pryce ponders retirement
The defensive tackle for the New York Jets for 14 years, Trevor Pryce is deciding whether or not now is the time to retire.
The day after the Jets lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship Game, Pryce told reporters that Head Coach Rex Ryan wanted him to come back, keeping his form in mind. The biggest question for him is whether he can subject himself to another
painstaking offseason or not.
"If I can do that, if I can find a way to go through the offseason the way I want to and the way I'm used to, then I’ll come back," he said today. "But if come two weeks from now, I'm like, 'Eh, s***w it,' then I won't."
However, right now the prospect of working his tail off does not sound so good.
"Do I want to put on that weight vest, and ride mountain bikes, and do the stupidness that I do?" he said. "Right now, my body’s saying, 'No.' I want to sit down and drink beer and play some really slow tennis."
Pryce was selected in the first round of the 1997 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, overall pick number 28. He led the team to two consecutive Super Bowls, Super Bowl XXXII in 1998 and Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999. In 1999, he was also selected to his first
Pro Bowl after recording 46 tackles and 13 sacks, a career high. He then completed his next season with 46 tackles and 12 sacks, going to his second Pro Bowl in a row. As if that wasn’t good enough, he had 26 tackles and 12 sacks in 2000 and was selected to
his third consecutive Pro Bowl. This only got better in 2001 when he had 41 tackles and seven sacks, making it to his fourth successive Pro Bowl.
Pryce thanks Ryan for bringing him back to standards after he had a bad season because of a herniated disk in his lower back, which required surgery. He was released from the Broncos after recording 33 tackles and only four sacks in 16 starts in the 2005
season. He was released after the season was over.
He then went over to the Baltimore Ravens, where Ryan was the Defensive Coordinator. He was signed as a free agent and recorded a career high 47 tackles and 13 sacks, a tie for his season high. Pryce was released from the Ravens in September of 2009, and
it looked as if his career was over. This seemed to be true, as nobody really wanted a player who had been playing for 14 years and getting worse with time.
However, it seems that the final decision lies with Ryan. He was signed as the Jets Head Coach in 2009 and eagerly signed Pryce when he was let go by the Ravens. Pryce said that he will only play for the Jets, if he wants to. He does not have a timeline
as to when he will make his decision, saying that it may be in July or whenever the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is signed.
"Rex has asked me to come back, and that’s satisfying in itself that he’d still think of me that way," Pryce said. "Whereas another team asked me to leave. If the league's best defensive coaches want you to come back, then obviously you have something to
offer."
Pryce has not started in any games this season but has recorded four tackles in the three games that he has played. He also participated, but didn’t start, in the Jets’ three playoff games and recorded a total of eight tackles and one sack. Not bad for a
defensive end.
So whether or not the 14-year veteran is retiring will be a hot topic in the offseason, since the Jets are done for the year and will now focus only on doing better next year.
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