The Arizona Cardinals are glad to have center Rodney Hudson back. He took the entire offseason to decide whether or not he was coming back for another season. But it doesn’t sound like he really thought too much about retirement, even though the thought did come up.
Hudson addressed the media for the first time since his return to the team on Friday and told how he spent the offseason. “I spent time with my family, tried to heal up, recover and go from there,” he said.
Thoughts of retirement did come up, although he said he “didn’t have a meter” to gauge how seriously he thought about it.
“Just like any other player or any other job, as you get older in your profession, it’s a thought,” he said. “You spend a lot of time away from your family and your loved ones. Those things, at my age, you at least start to think about them.”
He didn’t know if there “was an exact moment” when he decided he wanted to play another season.
“I took the offseason off, spent a lot of time with my family, enjoyed that part of it, worked on my body, tried to get my body to a place where I feel good about it and came to a decision,” he said.
His wife had a baby so now he has two children at home, which he said was different. He would not comment as to whether or not he was fined for his unexcused absence from mandatory minicamp in June.
Based on what he said throughout his comments, it seems like retirement wasn’t necessarily a serious thought. He just wanted more time in the offseason with his family and perhaps just didn’t feel ready to leave them even for minicamp.
Between that and getting his body to a place that was good enough for football, he probably planned on returning but just wanted to delay the part of the football grind until it was necessary to do in training camp.
But he is back and the team is thrilled. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury is glad to have him. Running back James Conner said he gave Hudson a big hug and thanked him for returning.
A healthy Hudson will make a big difference as the Cardinals try to build on their 11-win season from a season ago.
Will 2022 be Hudson’s last season? He has no idea.
“I can’t even take my mind to next offseason.”
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