Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Scratch Chad Pennington as an option for the Miami Dolphins’ — or anybody else’s — quarterback depth chart next season.
Pennington told the Charleston Daily Mail he plans to skip the 2011 season while he recovers from shoulder and knee injuries and will work for Fox Sports as an analyst. The two-time NFL Comeback Player of the Year, who will turn 35 next weekend, said he might consider returning to the field in 2012.
“I’m actually going to take this year off, get healthy and do some work for Fox Sports,” Pennington told the West Virginia newspaper. “I’m going to evaluate things and see where I am physically.”
He signed a one-year contract with Fox Sports and will be paired with Sam Rosen, the Miami Herald reported.
“He came to Los Angeles for an audition a few weeks ago and we think he has a chance to be a pretty successful analyst,” Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell told the newspaper.
Pennington suffered another major injury to his throwing shoulder a few snaps into his lone Dolphins start last season. He tore a knee ligament while playing a pickup basketball game in March.
He said playing hoops was “a dumb decision. … I haven’t played [football]. I wasn’t training real hard at the time because I was doing some shoulder rehab, and my legs weren’t ready to play basketball. So it was just dumb.”
Pennington was scheduled to be a free agent once the lockout ends.
WRITTEN BY & FULL STORY: Tim Graham covers the AFC East for ESPN.com.