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NFL column: Rice Looking At Life Beyond Football

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By IRA KAUFMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 1, 2007

NEW ORLEANS - When the Bucs line up against the Saints today, Simeon Rice will be home in Chicago waiting for the phone to ring.

It probably won't.

After 12 years and 122 sacks, Rice's NFL career appears over, five months after Tampa Bay released him on the eve of training camp.

At the time, the Bucs took considerable heat for dumping Rice and his big salary. Tampa Bay said he failed a physical and Rice admitted his surgically repaired shoulder wasn't ready for the rigors of camp.

With John Lynch's urging, he hooked on with the Broncos for an unsatisfactory two-month stint. Denver used him on a spot basis on the left side and the three-time Pro Bowl right end chafed at the perceived insult.

He had never been a situational player in Tampa, but the Broncos felt he was still working himself back into shape.

"I still have it, but for some reason all people want to talk about is my age," said Rice, who turns 34 in February. "I really feel I can take the right team to the next level because I haven't lost anything."

Rice finally asked Broncos coach Mike Shanahan for his release and he was reunited with Tony Dungy three weeks ago, the day after Dwight Freeney suffered a season-ending foot injury.

Excited to join a contender, Rice quickly became disenchanted once again as the Colts used him sparingly in two games.

"I'm not a third-down player," he said from Chicago following his release by the Colts. "It doesn't excite me."

While Rice insists he is fully recovered from the shoulder problem that limited him to eight games in 2006, word out of Indianapolis is the NFL's No. 2 active sacker behind Michael Strahan of the Giants has nothing left.

It's beginning to look like Rice's dynamic pro career has ended with a whimper. The Colts waived him and are now counting on fourth-year pro Josh Thomas, who has six sacks in 48 NFL games.

While Rice contemplates life beyond football, Tampa Bay's defense is flourishing with a deep rotation up front. If Rice was still on the roster, right end Greg White probably wouldn't be thriving with three sacks and four forced fumbles in the past two weeks.

Those are Simeon Rice-type numbers, especially against his favorite patsies, the Saints. In 11 games against New Orleans as a Buccaneer, Rice registered 14 sacks and two forced fumbles, including a trio of three-sack efforts.

"My shoulder was messed up early, but it's fine now," Rice insisted. "I don't feel old, but this last year has been crazy. I'm being phased out of the league and my game has been taken away from me. ... I've got an age discrimination suit going on."

Rice, who posted four sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery for the 2002 Bucs during their postseason run, considers himself a Renaissance man with eclectic tastes. He's an avid traveler who loves the arts and, for the first time in his adult life, Rice is ready to move on without football.

"My mind-set is I've had a great career and now it's time to start looking at other things," he said. "It doesn't excite me to bounce around. I'm not going to live in mediocrity and I'm not going to be a third-down player. Physically, I'm legit. I'm looking for a situation that allows me to be me."

The Colts didn't like what they saw of Rice's burst off the edge and it didn't help his cause when he lined up offside on third down against the Falcons.

Atlanta scored on the next snap.

Considering Indy's pressing need for a right defensive end, Tuesday's move to waive Rice looks ominous, reinforcing Tampa Bay's gutsy decision on reporting day.

Bucs fans will remember the chiseled pass rusher who posted 69.5 sacks in his six years in Tampa. He talked big, played bigger and fed off the energy pulsing at Raymond James Stadium. Now, even in Rice's time of despair, the swagger remains.

"I'd love to finish my career strong, but right now I'm being controlled by others that see me in a certain light," he said. "They used to say I couldn't play the run - and I proved people wrong. Now, there's a perception I can't play at all anymore. Funny, I seem to remember them saying the same thing about another guy about a year ago, name of Randy Moss."

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