Former Lion Nate Burleson Hints This Could Be His Last Season
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
CBS DETROIT - Gregarious wide receiver Nate Burleson moved on from the Detroit Lions to the Cleveland Browns this offseason, and he intimated Saturday that his next move could be retirement.
"The goal is to have a career year and really ride off in the sunset the way I need to - full 16 games," Burleson said after the Lions defeated the Browns in the preseason opener. "I want to give Cleveland what I wasn't able to give Detroit, which is a healthy Nate Burleson for a full season.
"Ride off in the sunset, man - why not?" Burleson added. "If I can help this team win and do it the right way, why not, man? Year 12, age 33, still got my limbs intact to play with my babies."
Burleson started his career with the Minnesota Vikings. After three seasons there, he spent four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. From 2010 to 2013 he played for the Lions, and when the Lions released him this offseason, Burleson went to the Browns.
Because of injuries, Burleson played in just 15 games between the 2012 and 2013 seasons for Detroit. In his final year for the Lions, Burleson became the center of one of the most bizarre sports stories in quite some time when he crashed his SUV and broke his arm while trying to keep pizza boxes from sliding off the passenger seat.
Burleson did not play in Saturday's game against the Lions because of a hamstring injury, which disappointed him in part because he had some celebratory moves planned for his return to Ford Field.
"I was going ham this last week, and guys are like, 'What are you doing?' I'm like, 'I'm getting ready for Detroit,'" Burleson said with his trademark smile. "I was going to take my helmet, I was going to kiss the ground, like I used to do when I got introduced, and then I was going to run through the tunnel, kind of like, 'See you guys later,' Bo Jackson-esque, but couldn't do it. But it's all right."
