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Pace dismisses retirement talk
By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
10/26/2007

Sept. 9, 2007-- Rams left tackle Orlando Pace leaves the playing field during a game between the Rams and the Carolina Panthers.
(Chris Lee /P-D)

Is he retiring? Everybody in his family has asked. Several of his friends, too.

It's a fair enough question. Orlando Pace has been in the NFL for 11 seasons. He turns 32 on Nov. 4. But now he has suffered season-ending injuries two years in a row.

So ... ?

"I'm going to come back and play," Pace told the Post-Dispatch. "I will play. Initially, (retirement) crosses your mind. You think, 'Man, I can't go through another year like this.'"
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But like many players, Pace wants to leave the game on his own terms. In fact, he's adamant about it.

"I have a lot of pride in wanting to do that," Pace said. "I've done a lot of good things in the league, and I want to continue to do more. I don't want to have an injury force me out, or somebody else telling me: 'You can't play anymore.'

"So that's the one thing that really drives me, and that's going to drive me to play another couple years, hopefully

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