Ryan Pickett does not want to go quietly into the night. He’s not ready to retire. He told Tyler Dunne there’s a 100 percent chance he’s playing somewhere in 2014.
That probably won’t be with the Green Bay Packers though.
The Packers have done nothing to signal that they have any interest in bringing Pickett back in 2014. They haven’t even called him and meanwhile, they’ve gone and stocked their defensive line with plenty of bodies.
Coach Mike McCarthy says the door isn’t closed on Pickett’s return, but the writing is on the wall.
“You can’t blame them,” Pickett said. “They’re moving forward. They’re bringing in guys that do different things. That’s what they’re supposed to do.”
This is typical Packers. For some reason, they can’t just openly admit that they’ve moved on. They don’t even have the courtesy to tell the player that they’ve moved on. They just let him twist in the wind until one day it’s the regular season and he isn’t on the roster.
I mean, even a simple “We’re pretty happy with the guys we have right now,” would be sufficient. We can read between those lines. But no.
The door is open, everyone!
So anyway, Pickett will be 35 this year and he didn’t play well at all last season. He ended up with only 19 tackles, down from 52 the year before. That would have made him the team’s worst and/or most disappointing defensive lineman if B.J. Raji wasn’t also employed by the Packers in 2013.
Pickett blames his ineffectiveness on a bruised knee that he suffered in the first Chicago game. The Packers probably blame it on old age.
At any rate, Pickett isn’t deterred. He’s adamant about playing this season and he’d like to play for a contender.
Getting a job mashing bodies isn’t unheard of at Pickett’s age, either. That fat fuck Pat Williams played until he was 38.
You can’t teach large.