Vince Wilfork: Time off sparks retiring thoughts

BOSTON -- Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork is used to grinding away in the offseason, working out at the team facility and being part of organized team activities. This year has obviously been different, a result of the NFL's unsettled labor situation.

Wilfork's workouts have been at his Florida home, where he's also considered a life without football.

"The time you have off, you really have a chance to sit back, enjoy, and let your body heal correctly, because most of the time you're getting back in football so quick that injuries don't heal as well," he said at Matt Light's Lockout Breakfast at the Liberty Hotel. "I think this time there are more negative things people look at, but you can take some positives out of it as a player -- to sit back and heal correctly.

"This time off, you really sit back and think a lot. I tell my wife [Bianca] all the time that I could get used to retirement. She just gives me a look like, 'You're crazy.'

"That's one of those things that does go through your mind. I'm coming up to eight years [in the NFL]. I'm pretty sure it runs through people's minds, retirement. You never know, man, [with] how long this thing gets dragged out, but hopefully it will be over soon and we can all be back to doing what we love."

Wilfork said he believes there will be a season in 2011, it's just a matter of when.

"It's so much to lose as fans, owners and players, not to have it," he said.

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(espn.com)