Kent Somers

azcentral sports

With a mouth that roared and rarely bored, Darnell Dockett played football and lived life in similar fashion, with a passion that often took him to the edge of propriety.

Dockett is proud of that, as he reminded reporters on Monday at a press conference announcing his retirement from the NFL.

“I took a thin line for 10 years,” said Dockett, 35. “I say what I wanted to say, I did what I wanted to do. I voiced my opinion.

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“I was never going to be tamed to the NFL ways, the way they want you to do things, the way they want you to dress, the way they want you to talk, what they want you to act like. I’m glad because I’m not a duplicate of someone else.”

Not one person who ever met Dockett would argue that, not even the people who disliked him.

“Nine-O,” as Dockett liked to call himself, spent 11 years with the Cardinals, including all of 2014 on injured reserve because of a knee suffered in training camp.

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The Cardinals released him in the spring of 2015 when Dockett refused to take a pay cut, and he signed with the 49ers, an NFC rival. The 49ers, however, released Dockett on the final roster cut, and no one else came calling.

So Dockett made his retirement official on Monday, signing a ceremonial one-day contract with the Cardinals, who drafted him in the third round out of Florida State in 2004.

“I will forever be a Cardinal at heart, and when we lose, it hurts me too,” Dockett said. “I just want to let people know that this is my heart and I will never take it for granted. I love this organization and everything it has done and been a part of. I’m thankful.”

Before the knee injury, Dockett was one of the most durable players in the NFL. He missed just two games over his first 10 seasons and just a handful of practices. He was selected to three Pro Bowls, more than any other defensive lineman in team history, ranks seventh in franchise history with 40 ½ sacks, not including the three he had in Super Bowl XLIII, which tied a Super Bowl record.

He played and lived with a passion born of tragedy. Dockett’s mother was murdered when he was 13 and he moved from the Atlanta area to live with an uncle in Maryland.

“I stayed on his ass like white on rice," his uncle, Kevin Dockett, said several years ago.

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There were problems at home and at school, but Dockett found an outlet in football.

“I beat the odds in a lot of ways," he said. "That’s one way I’m able to put my cleats up and take my jersey off, knowing that where I came from, all the things, all the adversity and stuff I fought to get this far in life, I have beat the odds. I’m very thankful things happened to me to mold me to the person I am now. I would never take those things for granted.”

As a Cardinal, Dockett was high maintenance. He spouted off on Twitter, refusing to edit himself as much as NFL and team officials would like. Once, he live-tweeted after being pulled over in Maryland by a police officer for no apparent reason other than his skin color and nice car.

As Dockett accurately pointed out on Monday, he never was in trouble as a Cardinal, although there was the one time former coach Ken Whisenhunt fined Dockett after Dockett allegedly spit in the face of a teammate in a disagreement over strategy late in a game.

"The Whisenhunt thing, that didn’t count," Dockett said. "That was just somebody getting mad."

At his press conference, Dockett was flanked by team President Michael Bidwill and coach Bruce Arians. Several of his former Cardinals teammates, including safety Antrel Rolle, defensive lineman Antonio Smith, defensive lineman Betrand Berry, safety Adrian Willson and defensive lineman Frostee Rucker, attended.

“Passion” is the word that comes to Arians’ mind when asked about Dockett.

“You left a legacy here the way it’s supposed to be done,” he said. “Those guys are never forgotten. You started something. You’ll always be there. You’ll never ever not be on this team.”

There was no mention of Dockett entering the ring of honor at University of Phoenix Stadium. Even if that doesn’t happen, he will hold a prominent place in Cardinals history. With receiver Larry Fitzgerald, linebacker Karlos Dansby and Antonio Smith, Dockett was part of perhaps the finest draft class in team history.

Dockett also gave the team’s fans the name “Birdgang,” and occasionally created a national stir by promising to bring an exotic animal or two to training camp.

He never did, either because he didn’t own any, or didn’t want be upstaged.

“There’s heroes, there’s villains, and then there’s Dockett,” Wilson said to his former teammate on Monday. “You were a great mix between the two.”