Our own Aaron Wilson, whose primary gig consists of covering the Ravens for the Carroll County Times, has passed along a statement from Ravens receiver Derrick Mason, who rejoined the team today after a brief retirement.
“It was a tough decision, but I think it was a good decision for me to come back,” Mason said in comments provided by the team. “I needed to evaluate my life, football and my career. The last several weeks thinking about it and talking with my family was an important time for me and them.
“I still have an intense fire inside me, and I want to play. My family and I wanted to finish it out the right way. I felt like I had left something undone, and I wanted to finish it. I believe this is a good example for my son and my daughter on how to be thoughtful and also follow through.”
Frankly, his son and daughter likely also will appreciate the fact that dad will be making $3 million this year in football salary -- and that he won’t have to raid their eventual trust funds for $1.4 million in signing bonus money that the Ravens could have forced Mason to repay if he had retired.