Avowed blog hater Len Pasquarelli of BSPN.com writes about the All-NFL Decade team the four-letter network put together. In it, atop the list, is Derrick Brooks.

The most celebrated member of the ESPN.com NFL Team of the Decade (minus one season) for the 2000s began his pro career during the previous millennium.

If Derrick Brooks had his druthers, he hasn’t played his last snap yet.

Selecting the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers weakside linebacker for inclusion on the all-decade team certainly defines the term no-brainer. The 14-year veteran hopes his divorce from the Bucs isn’t the final chapter of a brilliant career.

“I’ve kept myself in [football] shape,” said Brooks, 36, who was released by Tampa Bay in February. “People out there know I still want to play. There are still definitely some things I want to accomplish before I’m done.”

Few players have the résumé Brooks owns.

“He was asked to do a lot, because [the coaches] knew he could do it all,” said former Tampa Bay safety John Lynch, who was released by the Bucs after the 2003 season and continued his career with the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots. “He was a player without any real weakness.”

Pasquarelli notes that while Brooks didn’t make many game-changing plays — with the notable exception of his interception return for a touchdown in the Bucs lone Super Bowl — he changed games by being so consistently dominant.

Funny how this guy couldn’t play one more season for the Bucs. Still makes Joe angry just thinking about it.