CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Retirement?
Of course Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen thought about it. He had to, really, after seeing both his 2017 and 2018 seasons end on injured reserve due to a broken bone in his problematic right foot.
Olsen, 34, now ranks as the oldest player on the Panthers' roster, and he says he is "ready to rock" for the 2019 season. But he certainly contemplated retirement after his second straight injury-plagued, substandard season ended last December.
"That's always your rash decision," Olsen told the Observer. "You're exhausted. You're tired of going through it. You're tired of hurting."
That phase didn't last very long, though, Olsen said. "I think once you make it through that initial pity party, you think you've worked too hard, you've done too much, and you've played too long to go out like that."
Always prideful in his work, Olsen recited one of his most recent stats with apparent disgust in a separate group interview after a recent Panthers practice.
"Going out with 200 yards would be a tough way to finish," he said, referring to his 191-yard season in 2017 and his 291 yards in 2018. He missed 16 of a possible 32 games in those years after playing in every single game for the previous nine.
"It's been a bad two seasons," Olsen continued. "That's just the reality of it. It's been very frustrating. But again, injuries are part of this game. And to go a long time without having to deal with it and then have it all kind of dumped on me at the same time was kind of a real quick change.
"But I'm here now. I feel good. ... I haven't taken as many snaps over the past two years, so maybe that'll give me a little more juice for this part of my career."
