NFL Players Who Retired At The Top Of Their Game

When the majority of NFL players retire, it's a natural end to their careers and there are usually some signs that the inevitable is right around the corner.

The Bleacher Report cites the case of Kyle Vanden Bosch of the Detroit Lions, who coaches wanted to sign so badly that they offered him not only a $26 million contract in 2010, but they commissioned a custom action figure of him in a full uniform. A few years later, the sport had taken a toll on him, his stats slipped, and he was released from the contract that they'd tried so hard to get him to sign.

But what about those who are sitting at the very top of their game, whether they're resting on their statistics, still celebrating a repeat Pro Bowl nomination, or maybe a Super Bowl win? Maybe they're still young, maybe they signed a contract with a team that thought they had a handful of incredible years left, and then? Retirement. It's happened to some major, big-league players who didn't wait until sliding stats, or on-the-field mistakes, started to tarnish their legacy before they decided they wanted to ride off into the wild blue yonder. That said, let's talk about some players who opted for an early retirement.

Tampa Bay fans were shocked by the announcement that Ali Marpet was walking away from the NFL at just 28 years old. Still, Sports Illustrated said that at the time, he really didn't get into just why he was leaving what many might consider a dream job. For that, it's necessary to head over to the UK-based paper, The Guardian.

Marpet was incredibly candid in speaking about things that tend to get overlooked in the name of the game, starting with his weight. Clocking in at around 300 pounds — pretty standard (if not light) for a linebacker, he was already starting to develop weight-related conditions like hypertension and sleep apnea. He told reporters, "I was eating as clean as possible for a 300-pounder, but having all the weight on your body is bad."

The potential for head injuries was the other big factor in his decision, and in spite of the fact that he loved football and loved playing, he said he wasn't willing to risk his long-term health for it. "... one of my strongest values is health, and if I'm really going to live out what's important to me, it doesn't make sense to keep playing," he explained. And he saw playing as already courting disaster, citing three games he missed in late 2020 after suffering a concussion, and other, less acute head injuries that weren't enough to take him out of the game, but, he worried, might have catastrophic effects down the road.

Quarterbacks, says The Bleacher Report, usually don't hit their stride until they're around 25 years old — making them the late bloomers of the NFL. They typically have longer careers, too, which is why Andrew Luck's retirement from football and the Indianapolis Colts at the age of 29 was such a shock. Add in the fact that the previous season he'd guided the team to the playoffs, and it seemed to come out of left field.

It wasn't until 2022 that Luck got honest with ESPN, saying there were a few things that led to him pulling the ripcord on his career — one that experts had been sure would end with his induction into the Hall of Fame.

Luck said that he cried the day after he announced his retirement, filled with regret and uncertainty. It took him a while to even start to come to terms with it, and repeatedly asked himself, "How do you fall out of love with something you loved?" Introspection — and journaling — led him to the conclusion that it had been the right decision for him: He'd hated the media attention, the fact that football had become his entire identity, and the pressure of trying to control the narrative. Add in major injuries that included a lacerated kidney, a shoulder injury, and the depression that came from missed games, and even his $139 million contract couldn't make him stay.

Chris Borland wasn't just in the prime of his career, he was at the very beginning of it when he announced his retirement in 2015. He had just finished his rookie season with one of the best first-year performances in the NFL, but the 49ers linebacker decided to call it quits amid worries about the connections between repeated head trauma, concussions, and long-term, degenerative neurological diseases. According to ESPN, he explained, "I honestly want to do what's best for my health. From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk."

That, he added, included playing through what he believed was a concussion he suffered while still in training camp. He had been trying to secure a spot on the team and didn't say anything, but misgivings gave way to concern when he started researching the former players diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries.

Borland's decision was met with extreme reactions, reported Fox Sports: He was openly mocked by some (like former quarterback Danny Kanell), told he was overreacting by others, and laughed at for giving up a ton of money for no real reason. The 49ers, however, were gracious, saying, "We respect Chris Borland's decision and wish him all the best," adding, "He was a consummate professional from day one and a very well-respected member of our team and community."

When Carolina Panthers' linebacker Luke Kuechly announced his retirement in 2020, it was very clearly an emotional decision. He said (in part) via Twitter: "It's a tough decision. I've thought about it a lot, and now is the right chance for me to move on. It makes me sad because I love playing this game. I've been playing it since I was a little kid, and it's my favorite thing in the world to do."

At the time, the then 28-year-old was one of the best linebackers in the game, and later, The Guardian reported that his early retirement was likely related to the severe concussions he'd sustained. They cited one instance in 2016, when Kuechly was taken off the field after suffering a potentially devastating concussion — and Sports Illustrated confirmed it was one of the major factors that led to his retirement. With the connection between repeated head injuries and concussions with long-term, degenerative neurological disorders, Kuechly decided to hang up his jersey before suffering permanent damage.

But, he didn't step away from football entirely — at least, not immediately. He returned to the Panthers as a scout, for a brief time. He resigned from that position in 2021, saying that it was time for him to spend more time with his friends and family, particularly traveling with his father and brothers.

Rashard Mendenhall was just 26 years old when — after several 1,000-yard seasons, notes The Washington Post — he decided to retire from the NFL and walk away from wearing the "running back" label. Exactly why he did it is fascinating stuff that speaks to football culture ... circa 2014.

Mendenhall wrote a piece for HuffPost outlining exactly why he was retiring, and first, he didn't want to suffer an injury that would become a permanent concern throughout the rest of his life. But perhaps even more importantly, Mendenhall wrote that while he loved the game, he'd had enough of the fans — and the hate. "Having to fight through waves and currents of praise and criticism, but mostly hate," he wrote. "I can't even count how many times I've been called a 'dumb [expletive].' ... even if you try to avoid these things completely — because I've tried — somehow they still reach you."

While many condemned his early retirement as proving the accusations that he'd never really cared for football, it was the complete opposite. Mendenhall said that he was going to do what he always wanted to, and that was to write. And he did: In 2017, The Bleacher Report shared that he'd scored his dream job as a story editor for the Dwayne Johnson/HBO vehicle "Ballers."

Michael Irvin's retirement came when a sudden and devastating injury derailed what seemed destined to be at least a few more good years. After hitting his stride in 1991 with his first 1,000-plus-yard season, he continued to rack up those stats right into 1998 (via ESPN). USA Today says that his career came to a shocking halt with a catastrophic injury just a few games into the 1999 season — and just after he snagged his 750th career reception to enter the list of top all-time receivers.

Irvin took a massive hit — the kind that saw players on both sidelines begin to pray — and Irvin would later recall how bad it was: "That's the one thing every football player, deep down inside, is worried about. If you ask them, their deepest, darkest fear is always, 'Ending up paralyzed on the football field.' And to have had that really happen, that was a scary situation. I definitely thought that it was over."

Irvin had been temporarily paralyzed, but at the time, it was absolutely thought that he was going to be back on the field in no time. Further investigation into the injury led to a diagnosis of cervical stenosis (as reported by the Chicago Tribune) which, in a nutshell, meant Irvin had been born with a genetic condition that meant he had a narrower-than-usual spinal cord, and that he was at a high risk for permanent paralysis. He retired, saying, "Walking away from the game is hard, but walking away is a blessing."