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ORLANDO -- Simeon Rice has carried the chip on his shoulder for so long that it became a standard part of his football uniform.It's a boulder now.
Rice, a 12-year NFL veteran and three-time Pro Bowl selection, began practice this week with the New York Sentinels of the startup United Football League, confident of regaining the form that once made him one of the game's most dangerous defensive ends.
"I have some unfinished business,'' Rice said from outside the Citrus Bowl, where the Florida Tuskers and the Sentinels share training-camp facilities. "I've done it all, but I never felt like I got the credit I deserved. So I'm coming back to get that. This is my road back.''
Rice, 35, sat out last season after an ugly, injury-slowed 2007 when he hardly played while splitting time between Denver and Indianapolis.
"I'm as good as I ever was. My game didn't deteriorate. I was just injured,'' he said. "I could go down the road [to Tampa Bay] right now and get them a sack or two on Sunday. I could help any team [in the NFL] that needs a hellraiser. I'm back at 100 percent now.''
Although Rice clearly has his eye on the NFL, he sounds genuinely excited about helping launch the new UFL next month -- despite the league being a bare-bones operation that is expected to experience real growing pains when it opens play Oct. 8.
"Look, I know what it feels like to drive a Ferrari. I have one. I don't need the luxuries now. I'm here to play the game,'' he said. "I can legitimize this league by bringing my brand. I have Hall of Fame numbers. You bring a talented player like me, and a guy who still really wants to play, and it brings credibility.''
Rice left the NFL with 122 career sacks, which would be the most for an any active player if he returns to the league. He played six seasons with the Bucs in Tampa, and had a key role in their Super Bowl XXXVII championship. But he seriously injured his shoulder midway through the 2006 season, which started his downfall in the NFL. Tampa waived him after the season, and he blasted coach Jon Gruden for abandoning him while he was injured.
"I'm here to showcase my ability again. I don't mind taking a step back to move 10 steps forward,'' he said. "In the NFL, you get hurt and you're irrelevant. That's what happened to me. I didn't have the luxury of a team standing behind me. But that's life, and I'm healthy again and as good as I ever was. This is where I will show that."
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