Rucker hopes Panthers want him back in '08

After spending more than a month contemplating his future, the
defensive end said Monday he's decided against retirement and hopes
the Panthers want him back.

"I'm just going off the way my body feels and the way my heart
feels," Rucker said. "At the end of the day, I still have that
drive and I still have something to offer."

Rucker, who turns 33 on Feb. 28, ranks second in team history
with 553 tackles and 55½ sacks. He becomes an unrestricted free
agent at the end of the month.

Rucker said he has yet to talk to coach John Fox and general
manager Marty Hurney about his decision to return.

"I don't think we ever want to do anything through the media,
so we don't know anything until we sit down and talk to him,"
Hurney said. "We'll sit down with Mike and we'll go from there."

After posting consecutive non-winning, non-playoff seasons, the
Panthers are expected to shake up their roster. Carolina was
next-to-last in the league with 23 sacks and could be looking to
replace Rucker with a younger defensive end.

Third in team history with 139 games played, Rucker hasn't ruled
out returning as a backup. Rucker paused when asked if he'd be
willing to play for another team.

"Nine years, plus my heart and tears," Rucker said. "I
haven't even [gone] down that path yet."

The decision to return caps an emotional 14 months for
Carolina's second-round pick in 1999, who tore the anterior
cruciate ligament in his left knee late in the 2006 season. Rucker
took a pay cut and went through a grueling rehabilitation program,
but was on the field for the start of training camp eight months
later and regained his starting position.

Rucker struggled early and acknowledged he was favoring his left
knee, but finished with 57 tackles and three sacks.

"In my wildest dreams, I didn't think I could have played the
snaps and stayed as healthy this year," Rucker said.

Rucker was in Phoenix for a few days last week before Super
Bowl XLII, where he spent time his brother Martin. A tight end from
Missouri, Martin Rucker hopes to be taken on the first day of
April's NFL draft. The chance to play in the league with his
younger brother was part of Rucker's decision to put off
retirement.

"I'd be lying to you if I said that wasn't a piece of it,"
Rucker said.