Deuce McAllister Deals With Retirement
May 26, 2009 – 8:15 am by Will Brinson
Deuce McAllister had a pretty shoddy weekend — the Starcaps ruling came down and he’s now suspended for the first four games of 2009. Because he’s a “free agent” (read: unwanted) it seems pretty unlikely that he’s going to end up on a roster for 2009.
But that doesn’t mean he’s totally given up; in the following interview he discusses the possible teams that he would be interested in playing for, what doctors discovered in his knee when they took a look, dealing with retirement, and much more.
What Duke University doctors discovered:
“It was just basically finding out why I had so much trouble recently with the knees; the ACL surgeries, etc. One thing that we found was a weakness in the core area but the hips as well as the ankles, whether they’ve been from a previous ankle strains or tightness in the hips, etc. That’s one thing I’ve been working particularly hard on, just strengthening those areas to take a lot of the stress off of the knees.”
The ideal situation for him:
“The ideal situation would be where you come in and help a guy as far as carrying the load. For me to go in and think that I can be that guy that can help this team over 16 games, I may be able to do it but I don’t think we’ll be very successful as a team.”
His outlook:
“By playing this game of football, either injuries are going to get you or age is going to catch you. I think you have to be real with yourself and be able to evaluate where you are in your playing career and see if you want to continue playing at a high level or play a high level but not play as much and still be productive.”
On the St. Louis Rams:
“Definitely sounds like a pretty good fit. Just looking at some of the things they’re trying to do in St. Louis, you have to definitely look at it but at the same time there has to be interest not only on the team side but the player side and it’s definitely there on my side… One of the things that’s going to happen is everybody’s going to get a fresh chance in St. Louis just because of the new regime that’s in there. Guys are going to go out there and they’re going to play hard and they’re going to play basically for positions. You have to respect it. Everyone’s at a clean slate.”
On wanting to get to the Super Bowl:
“It’s definitely a part of it. If it’s a situation and that’s not a part of it, you have to question why you’re actually going there and playing. You have to kind of look at it and see all the pieces that are in place.”
On dealing with retirement
“It’s coming for a lot of guys, myself included. Lord willing if I’m able to play 2 or 3 more years then that’s going to be it for myself.”
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