Light on WAAF: 'I knew that it was my time'

One day after his retirement press conference at Gillette Stadium, Matt Light joined Greg Hill and the Hill-Man Morning Show crew on WEEI sister station WAAF to talk about his decision to quit the game after 11 seasons on the Patriots offensive line.

"It was very humbling, kind of going through the whole process," Light said of his retirement announcement. "I thought it was just incredible, the work they put into that day. It wasn't expected. I could have mailed it in, but I started thinking about the people that have really been alongside me for my whole run. Those are the people that you see each and every day at that facility -- the people that are in the lunchroom, the people that take care of all of our laundry, all of the people that really make that place inviting and warm when at times it's very ugly. Those are the people that I really wanted to take the time to thank, and they gave me a great platform to do that. I'm very grateful. It was a cool day."

Light, who revealed Monday that he has battled Crohn's disease for the past decade, said he started thinking about retirement last offseason.

Said Light: "I basically went into 2011 saying, 'Look, I'm going to give it everything I've got. I still enjoy the game, I still love the guys, I still like the locker room, the whole nine [yards]. But depending on how I feel halfway through is going to determine whether or not I keep playing.' And you know what? It was one of those things that once it all fell into place I didn't really look back. I knew that it was my time. Play out the rest of that year, be thankful for what I've got and move on."

The 33-year-old said he didn't have a favorite game that stands out in his mind so much as moments when the competitiveness was at its highest.

"I really don't remember a lot of moments of games, particular moments, other than anytime that I got a personal foul or we had a good roughing of each other out there on the field," he said. "I can remember recently, a couple of years ago, when we played the Thanksgiving game in Detroit, and it was absolutely phenomenal. We got it on good. Logan [Mankins] was in there, we were scrapping, getting after it, came out of the pile with a helmet. They always cut to commercial when chaos ensues on the field, so you guys don't typically get to see that stuff. But some of the moments like that.

"The playoff game [against the Raiders in 2002], I can still vividly remember [Lonie Paxton] in the end zone doing the snow angel, and all the things that surrounded that game, and the fact that we were going to the Super Bowl, that was just an incredible moment as a rookie."

Regarding his immediate future, the Ohio native said he has no plans to leave the Boston area.

"If you think about it, I've spent the majority of my adult life here in New England," he said. "Our kids were all born here. We've got great schools here in Foxboro and great after-school programs and things of that nature. So, we're not going to change anything. We're going to take some time to figure out what the next steps will be. But definitely I'm looking forward to enjoying the summer, and we'll go back to Ohio for the summer -- they love being around the family and all their cousins and that kind of thing. But we'll be here in the fall, looking forward to having one of those, like I said, $14 beers at the stadium, not throwing up when I smell cut grass for the first time."

For more Patriots news, visit the team page at weei.com/patriots [1].