DAVIE, Fla. — He's hurting as much emotionally as physically, maybe more.
He's hurting as much in his heart as in his right shoulder, maybe more.
 CURTIS COMPTON/Cox Newspapers Atlanta Falcons defensive end # 71 Kroy Biermann sacks Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington for a loss during a game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta Sept. 13. For a larger, high resolution image, click HERE |
Chad Pennington didn't say goodbye to his football career, but that's what it felt like. He just couldn't quite get himself to do it.
"People have closed the book on me before," he said. "I've always kept it open."
But probably not this time.
Pennington stood behind a lectern in the media room at the Miami Dolphins training facility recently sounding like a professional quarterback not wanting to look at the end of the line, but knowing it's right there in front of him.
He's only days removed from the injury suffered Sunday in San Diego — the one that likely will require surgery Friday to repair a torn capsule — and neither history nor the calendar lies.
It would be the third surgery on Pennington's throwing shoulder. He never was the strongest-armed quarterback to begin with, and he'll celebrate a 34th birthday next summer.
That would seem a lethal mix.
Pennington, who fell into Miami's life as a free agent last August when the New York Jets deemed him expendable in favor of Brett Favre, was the best thing to happen to the Dolphins in a very long time. He was good enough to warrant league MVP consideration, and absolutely was the primary reason Miami surprised the world by going 11-5 and winning the AFC East title.
He was a steadying presence on the field and in the locker room.
He is smart and engaging, but he's also almost certainly done.
"Very disheartening," coach Tony Sparano called the loss of Pennington. "A good leader. A very good player. With that being said, we do have to move on and it's Chad Henne's turn."
Nobody ever said the NFL isn't a cold and calculating and cut-throat business, and Sparano loves the guy.
The harsh truth is that Pennington now stands as thrice-damaged goods. He's a comparatively old man in his profession. It would be too much to expect him to earn a third Comeback Player of the Year award ... or even come close.
Oh, he'd make a wonderful reserve quarterback next season behind Henne in a perfect Miami role-reversal world. But that's not likely to happen with the Dolphins aiming to get younger. Pennington, whose contract runs only through this season, might not even have been in Miami's plans next season under the best of circumstances.
His only plan at the moment is to get the shoulder repaired so he can enjoy "everyday life" and later test his ability to throw again.
"I have a lot of emotions running through my head," said Pennington, who on Thursday was scheduled to consult with orthopedic specialist Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. "(I'm) going to sift through all of these thoughts and simplify the process for myself in what I need to do from here and where I need to go."
The surprise would be if Pennington doesn't discover the joys of that everyday life too wonderful to give up at this stage. He and his wife, Robin, have three boys — Cole, Luke and Gage — and Pennington said the kids were "already looking at me kind of funny, because they're not used to seeing Daddy home at 9 o'clock in the morning."
Bet they could get used to it, though.
Bet he could, too.
Sure, he's a self-described "football head" who would rather leave on his terms after a 10-year NFL career.
"I felt like I had paid my dues to the football gods," Pennington said.
But as he also said, "There are worse things going on in this world than a bum shoulder. Things will be fine. We have a lot of things to focus on and re-evaluate and map out and make sure we're leading our family in the right direction."
The family includes in-laws in West Virginia and parents back in Pennington's native Tennessee. He has talked about how he loves Kentucky's bluegrass country and how he could see himself coaching high school football there some day. Perhaps even with his sons as players.
That would help all kinds of hurt go away.
Greg Stoda writes for The Palm Beach Post. E-mail: greg(underscore)stoda(at)pbpost.com.
