Veteran wide receiver David Patten announced his retirement from football Saturday morning at New England's training camp. Patten, who turns 37 on Aug. 19, said he believed he could keep up physically. But it was the mental challenge that led him to tell coach Bill Belichick he was retiring after four practices. "This is in no way, shape or form what I anticipated coming back here this year," Patten said. "I'm actually a little saddened that I'm proving some of the naysayers right this morning. Some felt I signed back with the team to retire, but that was not part of my thought process. I honestly felt like I could still play this game and play at a high level. I felt the competitive spirit and nature was still there, but over the course of the last two days and over the course of the break [before training camp] away from the team, there was a lot of reflection. There was a lot of contemplation. "I just felt like it was time. It just hit me yesterday. Camp was going really well. I was still able to go out and be competitive and operate at a high level, but I believe once you get to the point in your career where it's multiple years -- it would be my 13th year -- and you're thinking about it mentally and you're not 100 percent into it mentally wise, it's tough to play this game. I always felt like when I got to that that point, it would be in my best interests to walk away."