Fernando Bryant to Retire?

by Sean Yuille on Jan 6, 2008 11:54 PM EST in News Comment 0 comments

On Saturday, Tom Kowalski reported that there was a strong possibility that Lions cornerback Fernando Bryant would retire after suffering another string of injuries.

A final decision hasn't been reached yet, but Lions cornerback Fernando Bryant will likely retire, ending his nine-year career. Bryant, who ended his previous three seasons on the injured reserve list, refused to go on IR this year although he was certainly a candidate.

Bryant, who is just 170 pounds, has been one of the toughest players on the Lions roster recently. He suffered a severe ankle injury against the Cardinals, but was back in the lineup the following week. Bryant was so banged up that he couldn't play an entire game the rest of the season and had to be rotated in and out of the lineup often.

Bryant definitely has suffered some bad luck over the last few seasons when it comes to injuries, and I could understand completely if he does in fact decide to retire. The only thing is, Bryant doesn't have any plans to retire.

"I am not retiring," Bryant said. "I'll be playing somewhere next year -- hopefully in Detroit, but I don't know."

Although the secondary was an absolute joke many times this past season, losing Fernando Bryant to retirement would not be a good thing. There is no doubt that the secondary will have to get better via free agency or the draft, but again, having another spot to fill just isn't a way to do that. Bryant has worked hard in Detroit and I hope to see him back on the field next season.

0 recs | Comment 0 comments