For those of you who thought St. Louis Rams tackle Orlando Pace was mulling retirement, he’s here to tell you otherwise. A report today indicates he is in no way ready to retire, at least not until the conclusion of next season. If he’s healthy before the ‘08 season kicks off, he’ll be wearing a uniform.

“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.’”

The 7-time Pro Bowl tackle has had his season ended the past two years, an obviously frustrating experience. But he wants to leave the game on his own terms:

“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.”

The Rams have seen a lot of injuries this season, so much in fact it’s a little scary. Having a healthy team ready to go in 2008 could spell a turnaround season for a franchise that was once dubbed “The Greatest Show on Turf.”

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