Accolades and Question Marks: A Look at the 2015 NFL Retirement Period

For this next blog entry, I decided to look at a little different aspect of the NFL game. People always seem to talk about the up and comers and players that are in their prime, but I wanted to take a look at the other side of the coin here, and check out the retirements from this offseason. 

This was a much more interesting retirement period, compared to others from recent memory. Many high profile players called it quits, along with some young players that hadn’t been in the league for more than the length of their rookie contracts. Definitely not something you see everyday, so let’s take a look.

The Less Surprising Retirees
Let us look at the most recent retiree, cornerback Ike Taylor for the Pittsburgh Steelers. At age 34, in 12 NFL seasons, he was a very consistent player when it came to playing time. Before last season, he had only missed 7 games in 11 years, but this past year he missed 11 games. From a durability standpoint throughout his career, that is what you want from a player. He has compiled over 600 combined tackles in his career, to go along with 140 pass deflections, 14 interceptions, 1 touchdown, and 3 sacks. Very solid numbers from a player at the cornerback position. The only issue my father had with Taylor, as a lifelong Steelers fan, was that he seemed to drop so many possible interceptions. That’s probably why he wasn’t a wide receiver, but he did have an impressive one as a corner.

Now sticking with the same team, but a different player in 8 time pro bowl safety, Troy Polamalu. It was sad to see Troy retire, especially because ever since I started to watch NFL football, it seemed like Polamalu was in the starting lineup for the Steelers. You could see him declining last year, but he has been a cornerstone for Pittsburgh for so long, it is going to be different seeing somebody else playing his position. Like Taylor, Troy has been with the Steelers for 12 years. In those 12 years, he has made countless eye popping plays that blew your mind. He gathered up 771 combined tackles, 32 interceptions, 110 pass deflections, 12 sacks, 14 forced fumbles, 7 fumble recoveries, and 3 touchdowns. Wow is all you can say, especially if you had the privilege of watching him over the years. He was a very soft-spoken player, but his play was everything but. He played like an animal, and treated every snap like it was his last. A future hall of fame player, without a doubt in my mind.

The More Surprising Retirees
To start off with this category, I feel like Patrick Willis is one of the first names that comes to mind. While 30 years old isn’t necessarily “young” in NFL terms, it isn’t an age that you expect players of Willis’ caliber to retire at. The man was a beast to say the very least, and he was the face of that 49er’s defense in my opinion. After being selected #11 overall in the 2007 NFL draft, he has lived up to his expectations, and then some. In 8 years, he made 7 pro bowls. That is the definition of domination at your position. In 112 games played, Willis finished with over 900 combined tackles, while breaking the 100 combined tackle mark in a season 6 times, with 174 combined tackles as a rookie. That number is pretty darn impressive to say the least. He also finished his year with 20.5 sacks, 16 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries, 8 interceptions, 53 pass deflections, and 2 touchdowns. A great career to celebrate, even if it did end a little earlier than we all expected. Willis also could be under serious consideration to make it to Canton, Ohio as a hall of fame linebacker.

Stephen Schilling is the next player to definitely surprise people by retiring at the young age of just 26 years old. In just 4 years of play in the NFL, he played for 2 different teams. He played for the Seattle Seahawks last season, and before that he spent his first 3 years with the San Diego Chargers, after being selected in the 6th round in 2011. He was never a solidified starter in the league, but he got playing time in 26 games, while starting 5 in his career, and 3 of them came in 2014. He played college football at the University of Michigan, and was a Lombardi Award nominee, which celebrated a college offensive lineman, who had great play on the field, while still having the type of discipline that Vince Lombardi portrayed. A promising outlook, but unfortunately ending earlier than expected.

Next up is the former #8 overall pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2011, Jake Locker. Coming out of the University of Washington, many thought that he could potentially be the #1 overall pick in the NFL draft, but that turned out to be Auburn standout, Cam Newton. Locker didn’t do what Tennessee was hoping, as he only started 30 games over 4 years. That’s less than half of what the team played over that 4 year span. He finished his career with just under 5,000 yards passing, 27 touchdowns, 22 interceptions, and a 57.5% completion rate. Though he didn’t really excel in the pros, it was very surprising that he called it quits because he still had the skill set to remain on an NFL roster. Locker however wanted to be able to get out of the NFL while still being in good health, and it is hard to fault him for that.

Now onto Jason Worilds, who was also from the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 2nd round draft choice from Virginia Tech played a total of 5 years in the National Football League. This is especially surprising because of his output for the team so far in his career. In 73 games throughout his career, he brought down the quarterback 25.5 times, and 7.5 of those sacks came just last year, which was the 2nd most in his career for a single season. He also finished his career with 4 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries. Though he wasn’t a standout that offenses planned around, Worilds was still a solid starter and he had some good upside, while showing flashes of great play. Even though the Pittsburgh Steelers are known for their development of linebackers, this is still a loss for their defensive unit and a big surprise for anyone who watched him.

The last player that retired out of nowhere, who was definitely the most surprising retiree, is linebacker Chris Borland from the San Francisco 49er’s. At just 24 years old, Borland hung up his cleats after just his rookie year. In his one year with the team, Borland compiled over 100 combined tackles, 5 pass deflections, 2 interceptions, and 1 sack, which earned him consideration for rookie of the year. He definitely had a lot of upside coming out of college after playing at the University of Wisconsin, and after being selected in the 3rd round in last year’s draft. Many players had mixed reviews about his retirement, with some questioning his commitment and just wanting the money and running, while others were very comforting and understanding as to why he did it. Borland quickly diminished those who criticized him by giving back 3/4 of his signing bonus, since he only played 1/4 of his rookie contract. That definitely had to take a lot for him to walk away from the game he loved, but it’s hard to argue with a guy who cherishes his health more than his paycheck.


Whether this turns into a more common thing in the NFL or not, this was definitely a surprising retirement period in the NFL. Only time will tell if this trend will continue.

As always, thank you for reading!