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13 Jul 2009

Derrick Mason Retires

According to the Twitter of Adam Schefter and jocklife.com, Ravens receiver Derrick Mason has decided to retire.

Posted by: Bill Barnwell on 13 Jul 2009

23 comments, Last at 15 Jul 2009, 3:55pm by Eddo

Comments

1
by Percy Harvin (not verified) :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 5:26pm

How much will this hurt the Ravens? 3.0 DVOA?

6
by jonnyblazin :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 6:52pm

This absolutely crushes the Ravens chances IMO. He was their only bonafide receiving threat, he had a great knack of catching the ball 3-4 yards short of the sticks and wriggling forward to get the 1st down. He was the only WR Flacco really trusted to be where he was supposed to be.

2
by Danish Denver-Fan :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 5:42pm

I really, really liked Mason as a player, but I just hate when players retire so late in the offseason. He is giving the Ravens absolutely no chance to replace him! It's not like there's somebody waiting in the wings.

Had he decided to retire in February or March the Ravens would've been able to enter the Houzh/Boldin/Marshall/T.O.-sweepstakes or tried spending a draftpick on a WR.

He's sort of hanging Cam Cameron (and, oh dear, Joe Flacco) out to dry here. If you want to retire, fine, but do your team a favor and decide quickly.

(If Mason somehow suffered a major injury, that I didn't hear about, disregard the above.)

9
by Pat (filler) (not verified) :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 7:07pm

I doubt Mason just decided to up and retire, leaving everyone hanging. I can't imagine that the team didn't know this was a possibility, and even if they didn't, it might have been due to the fact that Mason just didn't think he could make it through training camp.

12
by TruFalcon (not verified) :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 9:43pm

Matt Jones and marvin Harrison are both unsigned.

13
by JasonK :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 10:25pm

So is Amani Toomer, who might be a better fit.

To Pat's point, some players who are toying with the idea of retiring seem to like to wait until just before training camp, to see if the motivation to go through with another season starts building before it's time for the real practices to begin. (See: Michael Strahan and Tarik Glenn)

15
by vague (not verified) :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 10:53pm

Lets not forget Mason was very close friends with McNair. It is possible his outlook on life changed dramatically in the past few weeks. Im not claiming this to be the case but for most people retirement is more about family and home life than about your work. Perhaps this isnt the case in professional sports... I dont know many pro athletes personally.

Be Well

17
by JimZipCode :: Tue, 07/14/2009 - 2:39am

Remember Mason suffered the separated shoulder against the Giants, or whatever that injury was, and played thru the last 6 games of the season and the 3 postseason games with the injury. He had shoulder surgery shortly after the season ended.

He was not participating thru the OTA's and minicamps: not cleared to play yet. Flacco's been throwing to Clayton and Marcus Smith and some other guys over the offseason. I think the plan was for Mason to come back during training camp.

21
by bengt (not verified) :: Wed, 07/15/2009 - 7:20am

I think an organization that does not have an emergency plan in place for a 35 years, 12 seasons veteran, does not deserve pity.

3
by Some Guy (not verified) :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 5:47pm

Gotta wonder if the death of Steve McNair had something to do with this. They were teammates for a long time.

4
by Danish Denver-Fan :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 6:06pm

You might be right. Which makes me feel bad about my post above.

The point is still valid in general, though...

5
by krugerindustria... :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 6:30pm

I get what you're saying, but teams don't have any problem cutting guys when the timing is right for them. Why should players be held to a different standard?

7
by jonnyblazin :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 6:53pm

That's a good point, but I think Mason is letting his friends and colleagues down, not just the organization he plays for.

10
by tuluse :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 7:25pm

A lot of teams do try to cut players at the beginning of free agency so they have the best chance of re-signing.

14
by krugerindustria... :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 10:28pm

also very true. I guess my naive assumption (not knowing the guy) would be that he genuinely tried to get ready and realized he was done. now, if he knew he was done in January (or earlier) and just held on to the announcement just for the sake of screwing with his old employer, well, then I would certainly reserve the right to reverse my stance.
In general terms I think it would be a fair statement to say that teams and players will act in the best interests of the other when it does not conflict with their own best interests.

8
by drobviousso :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 7:02pm

As a human being, I don't know the story, but I hope that this is the right choice for a guy I have no personal malice for. I don't know, but I hope it is.
As a Steelers fan, thinking only of x's o's w's and l's, yee-haw is I believe the emotion that comes to mind.

19
by Anonymous Coward (not verified) :: Tue, 07/14/2009 - 12:18pm

Really, Mason and Housh were probably the two skill position players in the AFC North that gave the Steelers D the biggest problems over the last couple years.

11
by theot (not verified) :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 8:54pm

I bet Ozzie goes after Boldin or Marshall now.

16
by Sham :: Mon, 07/13/2009 - 11:48pm

How does this affect Mark Clayton's fantasy value?

18
by Marcumzilla :: Tue, 07/14/2009 - 11:53am

Give him the chance to disappoint as WR1 instead of disappointing as WR2?

20
by Telamon :: Tue, 07/14/2009 - 4:06pm

I saw a replay of the Ravens/Cowboys game from last season on NFL Network the other night. Talk about a ridiculous performance by a wide receiver. His arm was only staying attached by duct tape, I think, and he made several game changing plays. Can't really blame him for retiring, but, God, I'll miss him.

22
by Nathan :: Wed, 07/15/2009 - 3:36pm

That was a fantastic performance. Gonna miss this guy a lot, he was one tough dude.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3vs6zlSN_o

We know fumble recovery is luck, not skill, but seeing him get that one made me feel all warm inside. Not to mention him running the route in the endzone and it's just painfully obvious how useless his arm is.

23
by Eddo :: Wed, 07/15/2009 - 3:55pm

Recovering any single fumble takes skill; however, to continue recovering fumbles in the future takes both skill AND luck (read: opportunity, right-place-right-time, bouncing of the ball, etc).

Just like returning a FG for a touchdown. You better believe it takes skill - I sure as hell couldn't do it - but not even the most skilled player will reliably do it again.

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