Ageless Green Bay Packers receiver Donald Driver isn’t going anywhere, even though the roster is loaded with younger talent.
Driver, 36, still looks good, feels good, is in tip-top shape and has no plans to relinquish his starting job.
“I think he’s had a good camp, I really do,” said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Tuesday.
“It’s typical Donald. He’s going to run his routes well, he’s going to catch the ball and he’s going to make some plays when he gets in game situations.”
Driver has thrived on silencing his doubters, and he is hoping this year is no different.
“It’s been like that all my life,” Driver said. “As a child growing up, people tell me I can’t do this, I can’t do that. I prove people wrong.”
His string of six consecutive 1,000-yard seasons ended last year when he caught 51 passes for 565 yards. Some believe it’s a sign his career is nearing an end. To Driver, that kind of talk will only serve as motivation.
“It’s been the talk since I got here in ’99 and the talk continues in 2011,” Driver said. “I don’t think it’s going to ever change.”
Driver is realistic enough to know he can’t play forever. He is humble enough to accept a smaller role in the offense, if asked. He even would settle for a nonstarting position if that’s what the Packers wanted.
“If it got to that point where they made a decision to say, ‘Hey Donald, we’re not going to start you,’ I’m OK with it,” Driver said. “It’s not going to be the first time I haven’t started a game.”
But that time hasn’t arrived, according to Driver. He hasn’t lost a step or hit the proverbial wall.
“I said I want to play until I’m 40,” Driver said. “Will that day come? I hope. If not, I’m willing to know when it’s over, it’s over. And right now for me it’s not over. It’s been a proven fact I’m still playing at a high level. I’m competing at a high level.”
Driver suffered a high ankle sprain in the Super Bowl and missed the second half of the championship game. He normally works out fiendishly in the offseason but was forced to rest.
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