Whether fans get their NFL season or not, Chad Pennington appears to have quietly retired from the game, admitting that even a two time Comeback Player of the Year has to know his limits. Pennington, who celebrates his 35th birthday on sunday, has decided to work as an analyst for Fox Sports. Word has it that he’s also not opposed to becoming a coach at some point in the future.
To be an NFL ‘Comeback Player’, an athlete has to demonstrate that he has battled back through some kind of adversity that caused him to be out for the majority of a prior season. Reasons for that absence might range from poor playing to serious injuries. The award has been going out since 1972 and Pennington has received it for two very different reasons.
In 2006, he won as the Jets quarterback after tearing his rotator cuff only a year before. In 2008, he won as the Dolphins quarterback, having become an embarrasment in New York just a few months earlier. But in March 2011, Pennington made a foolish gamble when he played a game of pick-up basketball and ultimately tore his ACL, bringing an end to yet another season with the potential of yet another ‘comeback’ written all over it. Not to mention, he had already suffered a potentially ‘career-ending’ shoulder injury against Tennessee last November.
The point is, no athlete has an invincible body and almost every NFL player begins to weigh their alternatives after a certain point. Between the rotator cuff, the ACL, and the additional shoulder injury, Pennington may fit better in the booth for a little while. Fans who once enjoyed his play on the field will now have to ask themselves whether they care for his opinions behind a desk.
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