Anthony Zettel was once the feel-good story of the Detroit Lions defense. The high-energy defensive end has decided to hang up his cleats and retired from the NFL.
Zettel was a sixth-round pick by the Lions out of Penn State in the 2016 NFL draft. He quickly proved he belonged in Detroit. After a capable rookie season, Zettel exploded in his second year with the Lions. Zettel started all 16 games for Detroit in 2017 and bagged 6.5 sacks and 11 total tackles-for-loss.
His fan-friendly tenure in Detroit ended in the 2018 preseason when he was unpopularly waived by new head coach Matt Patricia. Zettel never really matched that 2017 level, bouncing between four different teams, most recently the 49ers (for the second time). He recorded just seven tackles and zero sacks in the last three seasons.
He decided that he just didn’t have the love for the game anymore. From Zettel’s Instagram page on Thursday:
Thanks for the memories and enjoy the post-football career, Anthony!