Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie could retire if Broncos win

Ask most people about Santonio Holmes’ game-winning catch in the Steelers’ 27-23 win over the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, and they’ll marvel at his remarkable athleticism as he hauled in Ben Roethlisberger’s pass in the right corner of the end zone and somehow managed to get both feet inbounds.

Ask cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie about it, and there’s nothing but disappointment.

After all, he was the cornerback tracking Holmes on the play. Asked whether he still thinks about the play, the Broncos’ cornerback said, “Yes I do. Not to the point where it beats me up, but just to the point that we were that close to getting a ring. I do tend to think about it a lot. Anytime the Super Bowl comes back around, they tend to show that play to this day. You sit there, look at it and think, ‘I was almost there.’ You can’t dwell on it. [That was] the main thing I learned from that game, and I am looking forward to playing in this one.”

If the Broncos do win, Rodgers-Cromartie, who is cousins with Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie, said he’d consider retiring.

“Coming out of college I gave myself a five-year goal,” said Rodger-Cromartie, who's just 27. “If I could just make it five years, I would be all right. Coming from a small school [Tennessee State] and of course playing six, it has been a long journey and I am weighing my options. I am still a young guy and not a Champ Bailey or Peyton Manning who have a legacy of going out on top. I had a goal of five years and I reached that. I will see how I feel after the game.”