Reggie Wayne: 'It was fun, but it's time' to retire
— -- Veteran receiver Reggie Wayne is ready to hang it up after 14 NFL seasons in which he caught more than 1,000 passes.
"Yeah, I'm done," Wayne told WTTV CBS-4 in Indianapolis on Friday. "It was fun, but it's time. It's just time. Whenever you can admit that you're done, you know you're done."
Wayne, who did not play this season after asking for his release from the New England Patriots after the final preseason game, told the station that his watershed moment came when he attended an Indianapolis Colts game on Nov. 29 as a fan -- the first time that he had done that since he was in college.
"I finally turned into a fan, a real fan," Wayne told the station. "You know me, I've got my adult beverage. I'm eating some popcorn. I'm watching fans' reactions. I'm watching the Jumbotron. I'm literally enjoying the game without having to do all the thinking.
"I thought that was the final notch for me. I felt like I needed that to help get me over that hump. A lot of guys who go to games come away and say, 'You know what? I can still do that.' But I needed that to realize, 'You know what? This ain't half bad.' "
Wayne, a six-time Pro Bowler, ranks seventh in NFL history with 1,070 receptions and is No. 8 with 14,345 career receiving yards. He scored 82 touchdowns in 14 seasons, all with the Colts, with whom he won Super Bowl XLI.
The Colts parted ways with Wayne after the 2014 season, with team owner Jim Irsay calling him "one of the greatest men to ever wear the horseshoe."
Wayne is the franchise leader in regular-season games played (211) and wins (143) and ranks second in receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns, 100-yard games (43) and consecutive games with a reception (134).
"When I look at it, what else did I have to prove?'' Wayne told WTTV. "In my mind, I never got as much pub as a lot of other guys, and that's fine. I don't care. You know what? Numbers don't lie . . . It's not been too bad, man. There's been thousands and thousands and thousands of people who played before me and there's going to be thousands and thousands and thousands who play after me.
"For me to be in that mix, man, that's not too bad. I played against the elite of the elite, the best of the best. I was able to crack the top 10 of this and the top 10 of that, and be one of the best in franchise history. Man, not too many people can say that."
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