(David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Carolina Panthers star Luke Kuechly decided now was the time to retire from the NFL, despite saying he still wanted to play. He joins a list of modern star football players who said goodbye in their primes.
Luke Kuechly was well on his way to a Hall of Fame career. He played eight seasons in the NFL. In seven of them, he was either first-team All-Pro (five times) or second-team All-Pro (two times). He was on pace to have one of the best linebacker careers in the Super Bowl era. All this, while falling under the radar in a Panthers defense, where he had to carry them quite often.
Then, Kuechly got a head injury. We’ve heard the stories about head injuries, so when the second one happens to a star player, we start to really worry. Kuechly got his first reported concussion in the NFL on Sept. 13, 2015. He tried to get up after a hit against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and fell back to the field.
Then, the next year, there’s no word to describe his second concussion other than scary. He suffered a grade three (considered severe) concussion against the New Orleans Saints. As they carted him off the field, he was sobbing. Of course, one of the scariest players in the league usually doesn’t cry after an injury. This is what happens when someone knocks your brain off its axis.
Kuechly ended up missing six games that season, never returning after that Saints game. After such a brutal concussion, some were worried if he would return at all.
As we know, Luke Kuechly eventually returned to the field, and he’s only missed one game since then. It was in 2017 for his third concussion. Either way, he bounced back from that brutal injury to continue his career.
Now, that’s apparently it for him. In a video he released announcing his retirement, he didn’t explicitly blame concussions for retiring, but he did say he wants to keep playing but thinks it’s the wrong choice. He’s not the first modern NFL player to say goodbye to the game while still in his prime. Here are others who said goodbye while there was still a lot of money on the table in the current era.