| Hamstring prompts Pickens' retirement 05/30/2001 By Jean-Jacques Taylor / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING – Receiver Carl Pickens, who signed a contract with Dallas last
month, has decided to retire.
"He's going to pack it in," Steve Zucker, his agent, said Tuesday
afternoon. "I left Stephen [Jones] a message about it yesterday.
"Carl really wanted to play for the Cowboys, but his hamstring just
wouldn't let him. He gave it all he had."
Pickens and owner Jerry Jones could not be reached for comment.
Pickens, who was supposed to give the Cowboys a proven third-down
possession receiver, did not attend any of the club's first three
mini-camps. Pickens agreed to a one-year deal worth $500,000 that did
not include a signing bonus.
The hamstring injury that caused his retirement forced him to miss six
games last season.
Pickens, a former first-round pick with Cincinnati, caught 10 passes
last season for Tennessee and failed to score a touchdown for the first
time in his career.
The Cowboys have been planning for several weeks as though Pickens would
not join the team, which is one reason they signed receivers Damon Dunn
and Jermaine Copeland in the last few weeks.
The Cowboys also signed Bashir Yamini, who spent last season shuttling
between Tennessee's practice squad and active roster.
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