Wide receiver Derrick Mason plans on returning to Baltimore Ravens for 15th NFL season
Derrick Mason, wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens, is not planning on retiring from the Ravens next season, even with the possibility of a lockout looming right around the corner.
"No. Not really," Mason said Saturday on a radio station. "I haven't really given that much thought because I'm very optimistic that something will get done."
The 37-year-old wide receiver is maintaining his normal offseason plan and still working out. "Business as usual," Mason said. "Nothing's no different for me. I'm going to continue to work out and continue to do the things I've been doing for the last 15
years -- being back in Nashville, working out, being with the family -- that's what I'm going to do."
Mason was drafted by the Houston Oilers out of Michigan State University in the fourth round, overall pick number 98, of the 1997 National Football League (NFL) Draft. Before that, he attended Mumford High School in Detroit, Michigan where he set a school
record for receiving yards with 1,243 and receptions with 70.
In college, he set a team record in his four years there for most kickoff return yards with 2,384 and also had eight touchdown receptions. When he got to the NFL, he played in all 16 games but started only two of those in his rookie year. He made 14 receptions
for 186 yards and no touchdowns. He also tried rushing one but lost seven yards on it, along with making five fumbles, four of which he lost.
In his second season, he didn’t start in any games but played in all 16. He made 25 receptions for 333 yards and three touchdowns. His playing stayed mainly consistent until 2001. At that point, the Oilers had already become the Tennessee Titans. In the
2001 season, Mason started in all 15 games that he played in and made 73 receptions for 1,128 yards and a career-high nine touchdown catches. He averaged 15.5 yards per reception that season, another career-high, with his longest touchdown pass being for 71
yards and a touchdown.
Mason did not start all 16 games of the season until 2003. That year, he had 95 receptions for a career-high 1,303 yards. After eight seasons in Tennessee, Mason joined the Ravens in 2005.in his first season with the Ravens, he had his fifth straight 1,000-plus
receiving yards season with 1,073 off of 86 receptions. The next year was a big drop for him, even though he started in 15 of the 16 games he played in. he had only 750 receiving yards off of 68 receptions. However, in 2007, 2008 and 2009, he again had more
than 1,000 receiving yards and a career-high 103 receptions in 2007 and the longest reception of his career, a 79 yard catch that resulted in a touchdown.
Last season, he had only 61 receptions for 802 yards and seven touchdowns in 15 starts out of 16 games played in.
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