Curt Schilling announced this morning that he will undergo shoulder surgery Monday, ending his season and possibly his career.

Speaking during his weekly appearance on WEEI Radio's Dennis and Callahan Show, Schilling said he "never could get past a certain stage" in his rehabilitation as he attempted to heal his right shoulder to the point where he would be able to pitch again. After a particularly unproductive throwing session last Friday in Cincinnati, he felt it was time to examine his options.

"It started to get painful again, non-throwing pain," said Schilling. "I went through four months of strengthening with, really, no pain whatsoever. And I was excited about the fact that I was not generating inflammation and pain, given the intensity and the rigor . . . [of ] the work.

“But at some point here, we got to a point where I imagined we might get. I just hoped we'd get there at the end of the process. Where throwing went from being kind of an uncomfortable thing to a downright painful thing. And when the pain increases, the amount of time it lingers afterwards changes."

Schilling visited his personal physician, Dr. Craig Morgan, and –– in consultation with the Red Sox' team physician, Dr. Thomas Gill –– surgery was recommended. Morgan will perform the operation Monday in Delaware.

Last winter Morgan said Schilling needed surgery, estimating there was a "zero [to] five percent" chance Schilling would be able to pitch if he followed the Red Sox' conservative approach of rest and rehabilitation to fix a torn biceps tendon in his right arm. But this morning, Schilling said his new problem goes beyond the biceps injury.

"A lot of stuff has happened over the last couple of weeks," Schilling said. "It’s a lot of things. I'm not exactly sure [what the problem is]. We're still nailing down exactly what kind of surgery it’s going to be . . .

"There’s a lot of other stuff that's going on,” added Schilling, who indicated he also has labrum damage and may also have rotator-cuff damage. "Until [Morgan] goes in there and gets done, anything is speculation.”

When asked if Morgan was correct in his original assessment that surgery was necessary and the Red Sox were wrong in stopping him from having the operation, Schilling responded: "I don’t know. And I don't care . . . It doesn't matter. I'm going in to make it not hurt anymore, which is pretty much what I care about."

Schilling said the rehabilitation was successful in one respect.

"I got strong," he said. "Everybody involved is very pleased and, in some cases, well, in Dr. Morgan's case, ecstatic with the strength I have in my shoulder."

But, he added, "I remember making a comment a couple of months ago, talking about it with people, and my fear was that I'd get strong and be able to do all this awesome strength stuff, but at the end of the day I wouldn’t be able to pitch. And that's kind of what happened. Functionally, my shoulder is incredibly strong. From a rehabilitation standpoint . . . I'm in an incredibly good position to have surgery. But I can't throw a pitch. When you're a pitcher, that's a problem."

So he decided to have the surgery.

"In my mind, it got to a point where there are two possibilities," he explained. "One of them was surgery, and off of surgery there’s two potentials, which was, I could wake up after the surgery and be told, 'You know what, it’s been a good run but you got no shot of getting back out there.' Which, to make this decision, I had to be okay with. Because it's a potentially likely scenario. And the other one is, 'Okay, we fixed it, but whatever happens between now and if you decide to pitch again, it's going to be five times as much as you ever had to do from a rehabilitation standpoint.' Those are the two surgery results.

"The second option, to me, was my career is over today. If I don't have surgery, my career is over today. So I’ve had to kind of sit back and weigh those options and figure out what we wanted to do."

Schilling admits the possibility of his pitching again is slim. And even he does return, it won't be for a full season.

"If, in a perfect world, if there was minimal to negligible damage once it was opened up and I got fixed, coming back next year would be something I would look at as an option, depending on the time and effort involved, but it wouldn’t be [for] a full season,” he said. “I would come back . . . [to] pitch maybe in the second half of the season. And, again, that is going to be a potential only if getting, literally, completely healthy is an option."

As for whether or not he'd return to the Red Sox, Schilling said, "I haven’t even thought about it. I don't know." But later he said he would audition himself to contenders at next year’s All-Star break –– "in a David Cone, hired-gun kind of thing" –– and said, "I wouldn't care where it was or what it was. From a personal standpoint, my family's okay with that."

The statement hinted at a rift between himself and the Red Sox organization, something he returned to later in the conversation.

"I think, at some point in time during this process, there was a lot of things in question about me from an integrity/principle standpoint," he said. "And I hope that those things aren't in question with the people involved anymore. But I never intended for this to be the way it is. I never misled anybody. And we are where are because I got hurt. And I can’t change that."

When asked why –– at his age and with all he's accomplished –– he would want to go through "five times as much as you ever had to do from a rehabilitation standpoint," he responded: "I still got the fire. It’s one of those things –– and take it in the way it’s intended –– I don't want it to end this way."

But if this is the end, he said he's fine with it.

"If it’s over, and my last pitch was in the 2007 World Series, honestly I’m okay with that," he said. "I just can't stress enough where I am mentally with this. I have not a regret in the world. None of this makes me bitter or angry . . .

"I’ve been blessed a billion times over. And I’ve been given far more than I ever, ever, ever could have imagined. To be able to spend the last couple of years of my career as a member this franchise in front of these fans is a gift I'll never be able to repay. This is not a funeral. It’s not a bad thing . . .

"To be able to finish it here, if that's what happens, is okay. I have nothing but appreciation and gratitude and love for the people that root for this team and teammates of mine. So it's not a bad thing."