Wide receiver Derrick Mason joined Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome and Head Coach John Harbaugh at the team’s training facility in Owings Mills, Maryland on Monday to officially announce his retirement as a Raven.
Mason, 38, played 15 years in the NFL, six of them with Baltimore. Mason is the Ravens’ franchise leader in receptions (471) and yards receiving (5,777). He ranks second behind Todd Heap with 29 touchdown catches and set a single-season franchise record with 103 receptions in 2007.
“There are not too many places you can go and be embraced the way the city of Baltimore embraced me,” said Mason while seated in between Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome and head coach John Harbaugh. “I will be forever indebted to this city. The decision wasn’t hard to retire and then the decision where to retire was just as easy because like I said, my heart was here. It never left. My body left, but by heart stayed right in these rooms.”
Mason during his press conference stated he got “mentally prepared” for retirement during a difficult 2011-12 season. After his release from the Ravens, he signed with the New York Jets. That didn’t work out and he was eventually traded to the Houston Texans.
“Tennessee is a great place,. They gave me an opportunity to start my career but my heart was here. It was an easy choice for me.”
Best of luck in yor retirement Derrick!
