Tag: Retirement

Ex-Broncos quarterback plans to unretire, return to NFL

Teddy Bridgewater plans to return to the NFL, and the Broncos might be seeking a backup quarterback this spring.

After serving as a backup quarterback with the Detroit Lions in 2023, Teddy Bridgewater retired from the NFL at age 31 and returned to his old high school, Miami Northwestern, as a coach.

In his first season coaching, Bridgewater led the Bulls to a state championship victory. Now he wants to return to the NFL.

“That’s the plan,” Bridgewater told Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero on an episode of The Insiders on Tuesday. “My team knows that’s the plan. We wanted to win a state championship and then coach goes back to the league, see what happens, and then come back February in the offseason, continue coaching high school football. We’ll see how it plays out.”

Still only 32 years old, Bridgewater will now seek an eighth NFL team. He played for the Denver Broncos in 2021, going 7-7 as a starter. Interestingly, the Broncos might be in the market for a backup quarterback this spring as both Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson are scheduled to become free agents.

Bridgewater, a former first-round pick out of Louisville, has a 33-32 career win-loss record with 75 touchdowns on his resume.

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Steven Nelson comes out of retirement, signs with Chiefs practice squad

The Kansas City #Chiefs signed veteran DB Steven Nelson on Monday after their win over the Los Angeles #Chargers on ‘Sunday Night Football’

The Kansas City Chiefs signed veteran defensive back Steven Nelson to a practice squad contract on Monday after their Week 14 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.

Nelson, who initially entered the league as a third-round pick of the Chiefs in the 2015 NFL draft, played in Kansas City for four seasons before signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019.

After his time in the City of Bridges, Nelson played for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021 and the Houston Texans in 2022 and 2023 before he announced his retirement on June 6, 2024.

Though it may take some time for Nelson to earn an activation from the Chiefs’ practice squad, his addition signals that general manager Brett Veach saw a need to add experience to Kansas City’s secondary.

Fans can expect Nelson to become a key contributor to the Chiefs’ defensive backfield if injuries continue to affect Kansas City’s cornerback depth in the final weeks of the regular season.

Saints formally place Taysom Hill on injured reserve, ending his season

The New Orleans Saints put Taysom Hill on injured reserve on Friday, formally ending his season after last week’s serious knee injury:

This was expected, but that doesn’t make it easier to accept. The New Orleans Saints placed Taysom Hill on injured reserve on Friday, formally ending his season after last week’s serious knee injury. Life comes at you fast in the NFL. Last week, Hill was selected as the NFC Offensive Player of the Week. This week his season is over.

Hill suffered a torn ACL and other damage to his left knee in a collision with other players late in the Saints’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams; this season was his most productive in the NFL despite dealing with some other injuries. Hill appeared in just eight games but averaged his best numbers in rushing yards per game (34.8) and receiving yards per game (23.4), scoring six touchdowns as a runner and receiver.

Will Hill be back in 2025? He’s under contract for just one more season and will turn 35 next year. Retirement would help the Saints out from a salary cap perspective, but there’s no replacing Hill’s importance to the team. That’s a question he’ll need to answer on another day. For now, we’ll wish him well in recovery.

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B/R bolsters Saints receiving corps with this hypothetical

If you could bring back one retired Saints player, who would it be? Bleacher Report says they’d add Marques Colston to the receiving corps:

Bleacher Report went through an interesting hypothetical scenario recently. They chose one retired player from the last 25 years of each team’s history to add to the current roster.

For the New Orleans Saints, the staff went with wide receiver Marques Colston. It was a surprising but, not unfounded, choice. The obvious selection would have been Drew Brees. Trading Derek Carr in for one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time seemed like a no-brainer.

In addition to Colston, Jahri Evans and Jabari Greer are also good choices. New Orleans needs help in a lot of areas, but what made Colston the pick. With Chris Olave out with his second concussion of the year, it would be good to see Colston dropped into today’s offense headed up by Derek Carr. With Ryan Ramczyk and Michael Thomas not officially retired, Colston is the best offensive player that fit the parameters who could help.

The Saints wide receiver room has been devastated by injuries. There’s no Chris Olave or Rashid Shaheed. The receiving corps is being led by Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

Marques Colston would give the Saints a true number one receiver. Even if Olave does come back from his concussion, Colston still gives New Orleans a bigger middle of the field target. Regardless of who’s in the lineup, Colston would have been a great addition to this team for their last five games. He would have been a great addition back in Week 1.

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Cameron Jordan only needed six letters to react to last-second Rams loss

Cameron Jordan only needed six letters to describe the reaction in the Saints locker room after their last-second loss to the Rams:

There’s a lot you could say about the New Orleans Saints’ loss tot he Los Angeles Rams last week. It was another missed opportunity to right the ship and salvage a season some would say has already been lost. It was a waste of a great effort by Cameron Jordan and the defense, who pitched a rare shutout in the first half. It was something of a disaster as star playmakers like Taysom Hill went down with season-ending injuries. And there were elements of encouragement when backup wide receivers like Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kevin Austin Jr., and Dante Pettis came through in clutch moments.

But Jordan needed just one six-letter word to describe the mood in the locker room after players walked off the field, having taken a 21-14 loss after leading for most of three quarters.

“Pissed,” Jordan told reporters after the game. “We let one get away. We don’t have enough time to let one get away.”

He’s not wrong. The Saints are barely holding on as the NFC playoff picture gets painted without them. They’re 4-8 and even playing in a weak division won’t be enough to squeeze them in for January’s playoff tournament. They can’t afford to lose any more ground.

Jordan, specifically, is someone running out of time. The longest-tenured player in New Orleans is facing a decision on retirement this offseason with just one year left on his contract; his workload has been reduced at times as the team has tried to rotate younger players into the lineup to try and find a spark. These next five games might be his last five games in a Saints uniform.

So letting an opportunity to beat a team that’s given them so much trouble over the years is frustrating. For the stakes to be as high as they are? Doubly so. Things might have gone differently if the offense could have ended more drives with points early on, or if protection had held up half a second longer on their final play from scrimmage — allowing Derek Carr to find an open man in the end zone right as Juwan Johnson stepped into a hole in the Rams’ coverage.

But that’s a whole lot of words to achieve the same result Jordan did in just one. The Saints don’t have time to harbor regrets or vent frustrations. All they can do now is focus on their next game and go to work.

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Tyrann Mathieu has his eyes on coaching after playing career

Tyrann Mathieu is still playing good football, but he has had internal conversations on what he wants to do when he hangs it up:

Tyrann Mathieu has been the New Orleans Saints’ best veteran on defense this year. He is the leader in turnovers on the team. Despite playing at a high level, he’s still looking towards life after football.

This future is still some years away, but Mathieu admits he does think about coaching. Those internal conversations have gone as far as whether or not he would coach on the professional or collegiate level.

In the past, Mathieu has expressed the desire to coach at his alma mater, LSU. The safety’s leadership has been one of his most heralded attributes as a player, so a transition to coaching makes sense.

In his playing career, Mathieu feel he has “accomplished everything that I’ve individually set out to accomplish.” Now he’s taking it year by year and enjoying himself.

It feels like the ability to come in and play for the Saints is just the cherry on top of what has been a great career. He returned to his hometown in 2021, and that have been the last box for him to check.

Mathieu has relished in “coming back home, being able to be in the the community, being able to play high level football and be productive on the field.”

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Broncos Super Bowl 50 champion Cody Latimer retires from football

Cody Latimer, who won Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos in 2015, has retired from pro football.

Former Denver Broncos wide receiver Cody Latimer is hanging up his cleats.

“Thank you football!!!” Latimer wrote on his Instagram page on Monday. “This game has taken me places i would’ve never imagined… Onto the next chapter!! 💪🏾💪🏾”

Latimer, 32, was picked by the Broncos in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft out of Indiana. He spent the first four years of his career in Denver, hauling in 35 receptions for 445 yards and three touchdowns in 45 games.

Latimer played 24 snaps on special teams and two snaps on offense in the team’s 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.

After his contract with the Broncos expired, Latimer spent two years with the New York Giants. He later had a brief stint with the Washington Commanders before three years out of football.

Latimer returned to the gridiron with the XFL’s Orlando Guardians in 2023 and transitioned to tight end. After making the All-XFL team in 2023, Latimer joined the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas in 2024. He totaled 36 receptions for 391 yards and one touchdown this spring before being placed on injured reserve.

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Congrats to Latimer on his nine-year career in professional football.

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NC State quarterback announces his retirement from football due to injury

NC State quarterback Grayson McCall announced his retirement from the sport on Wednesday, citing medical advice following a recent injury.

Grayson McCall, who entered the 2024 college football season as the starting quarterback for the NC State Wolfpack, announced his retirement through an Instagram post on Wednesday.

“I have battled injuries my whole career, but this is one that I cannot come back from,” McCall wrote. “Brain specialists, my family, and I have come to the conclusion that it is in my best interest to hang the cleats up.”

McCall had not played since an October 5 game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons when he took a scary hit to the head. A trio of defenders closed on him at the same time, knocking off his helmet during the tackle. He was carted off the field and taken to a hospital, but he was released later that same day.

It was the second time McCall left a game and went to a hospital with a head injury over the past two seasons. As the quarterback for Coastal Carolina in 2023, he spent a night in a hospital after a hit against Arkansas State last October.

“I look forward to taking my passion and love for the game into the coaching space to serve and lead the next group of kids with a dream,” McCall wrote on Wednesday.

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The Blue Devils are scheduled to play NC State in Raleigh on November 9.

ACC basketball coaching legend retires before 2024-25 season, per reports

According to multiple reports, Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett will retire instead of leading the Cavaliers in 2024-25.

Another men’s basketball coaching legend stepped away from the ACC on Thursday night.

According to Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman, longtime Virginia head coach Tony Bennett will retire effective immediately ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Bennett spent the past 15 seasons at the helm of the Cavaliers, winning six regular-season conference titles and building a reputation for slow, defensive basketball.

His program reached the summit in 2019 with a national championship victory over the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Discounting the shortened 2020-21 schedule, Virginia won at least 21 games in its past 12 seasons with four 30-win campaigns.

True to form, last season’s Cavaliers finished with a 23-11 record with KenPom’s seventh-best adjusted defensive efficiency rating while ranking 362nd in tempo.

Multiple reports, including one from Goodman, confirmed that Bennett’s retirement did not have to do with a sudden health scare or any health concerns at all.

Bennett’s Virginia tenure comes to a close with a 364-136 overall record and an 189-82 record in conference play.

Breaking: Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett to call it a career

Talk about a surprise just three weeks before the season starts.

In a surprising move, Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett will hang up the whistle after 15 years on the job. The Wisconsin native leaves the collegiate game with an overall record of 433-169 and with one NCAA Tournament national championship under his belt.

The announcement came as a bit of a shock with UVA set to tip off the 2024-25 college basketball season on Nov. 6 against Campbell. With the announcement of his retirement, the Virginia players now have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal. With the season just three weeks away and the semester already in full swing, they wouldn’t be able to make a move for this year.

While no one has been named the interim as of the time of the announcement, it would make the most sense for Ron Sanchez to assume head coaching duties on an interim basis. Sanchez served on the staff for 10 seasons before taking a head coaching gig with Charlotte and returned this last offseason.

College Sports Wire will monitor the situation and provide more details as it unfolds. A press conference has been scheduled for Friday.