Ravens receiver Steve Smith Sr. said earlier this year that this season would be his last in the NFL, and addressed that decision again last week by saying he’s “still on schedule” to retire at season’s end. However, there are still plenty of skeptics who don’t believe Smith will call it a career, and one of those skeptics is his agent, Derrick Fox, as ESPN’s Jim Trotter details.
“I know this guy better than anybody but his wife,” Fox said. “I’ve told him, ‘I don’t think that you’re really going to retire.’ The guy is just an insane competitor, and I think as long as his body works appropriately he’s really going to have a hard time next August saying, ‘Oh, wow. Guys are going to camp.’ He’s never experienced it in his entire life, and he’s got a lot left in the tank.”
As Fox tells it, Smith said early in his NFL career that he only planned to play for three or four years before retiring to spend time with his family, so he’s long been “committed to the concept” of retirement. However, the agent remains unconvinced that his client is ready to step away from the game quite yet. Asked to handicap the odds of Smith retiring after the 2015 season, Fox called it a 50-50 chance.
Even in his 15th NFL season, Smith does seem to have plenty left in the tank, as Fox suggests. In six games for Baltimore this season, the 36-year-old has grabbed 41 balls for 588 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 98 yards per game — the second-highest mark of his career.
Smith will have one year left on his three-year contract with the Ravens after 2015.
Smith’s announcement and supposed final year reminds some of Tiki Barber’s ’06 declaration. But Smith is more respected by his teammates and is far more committed to the game. I’m inclined to agree here, barring an injury or a steep performance decline. Perhaps he also saw what happened when Barber left after a prime year and tried unsuccessfully to return. Doubt he decides to quit with the ability to still be a No. 1 receiver still there.