Former Panthers WR Pharoh Cooper retires from NFL

Pharoh Cooper, the Panthers’ leading kick and punt returner from the 2020 season, announced his retirement from the NFL.

Pharoh Cooper has wrapped it up.

The 29-year-old announced his retirement from the game in a Twitter/X post on Monday afternoon. Cooper, a Havelock, N.C. native, played one of his seven pro seasons as a member of the Carolina Panthers.

That lone campaign came in 2020, when Cooper served as the team’s primary kick and punt returner under first-year head coach Matt Rhule. He returned 18 kicks for 430 yards (23.9 yards per attempt) and 20 punts for 117 yards (5.9 yards per attempt).

Prior to his homecoming, the University of South Carolina Gamecock cracked into the NFL as a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Rams from the 2016 NFL draft. His second year in Los Angeles, one in which he averaged a league-high 27.9 yards per kickoff return, resulted in a first-team All-Pro nod and a Pro Bowl selection—the first and only such distinctions of his career.

Cooper also spent time with the Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants.

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