Departures

There were two notable exits from the NFL today and it is more than likely that football fans will be more sorry to see one go than the other. 37-year-old Jaguar's wideout Jimmy Smith has retired from the game, making him one of the few athletes to have the common sense to bow out before becoming less of a hero and more of a joke. Smith finishes his career with 12,287 receiving yards (862 recpetions) in 13 seasons, good enough for 11th on the all time list and 1st for Jacksonville receivers. This is an impressive figure, but becomes even more notable given Smith's history of health problems and personal issues. Excerpts from Smith's retirement announcement can be found here.

After a six-year-stint Houston Texans general manager, Charley Casserly, has resigned his post. Casserly cites his will to pursue a job in the NFL's front office as reason for stepping down. This may, in fact be the case, but after the Texans' decline in performance since their inception in 2002, and a puzzling number one overall draft pick this year, there is more than likely some internal pressure weighing in on Casserly's decision. I'm still having some difficulty figuring out exactly why he wasn't let go earlier as rumours of his demise have been around for some time. The timing of this announcement probably says more about Casserly's decision than anything he might say about it as a.) he still has one year left on his contract and b.) if he knew he was after a new job, why would he not step down before the 2006 draft, given the fact that he wouldn't be with the organization anyway? In any case, I doubt that Texans fans will be too upset about this one and it should be interesting to see who owner, Bob McNair, replaces him with.