cxlx
03-01-2004, 09:09 AM
Anthony Pleasant will end his career the same way he went about his work for 14 seasons: quietly. There has been no official announcement, but two sources close to the free agent defensive end say he has decided to retire. Pleasant, 36, played his last three years with the Patriots and was a starter on the '01 Super Bowl team. A third-round pick of the Browns in 1990, he spent his first six seasons in Cleveland and moved with the team to Baltimore before making stops in Atlanta, New York (Jets), San Francisco, and, finally, New England. He had 58 sacks, but Pleasant's legacy will be the dignified manner in which he conducted himself on and off the field. He was inactive for nine regular-season games and all three playoff games last year yet maintained his exemplary work ethic. He was a man of few words but had many admirers in the Patriots' locker room; when "A.P." spoke, other players listened.