Today, Jared Allen announced his retirement from the NFL.
He did so while riding a horse. He wanted to go off into the sunset, but there wasn't a sunset for him to ride off into.
In his video (linked below) he says: "I just want to say thank you for an amazing 12-year career. This was the part where I was gonna ride off into the sunset. But seeing how there’s no sunset, I’m just gonna ride off."
Riding off into the sunset pic.twitter.com/wZXovseGKS
— Jared Allen (@JaredAllen69) February 18, 2016
Allen loved celebrating every sack he made. He retires with 136 career sacks and 1 Super Bowl appearance.
Looking back, he played with the Chiefs for 4 years, the Vikings for 6 years, part of a year with the Bears and 2015 with the Panthers.
[graphiq id="fC3iYQihxY1" title="Jared Allen Overview" width="640" height="607" url="https://w.graphiq.com/w/fC3iYQihxY1" link="http://football-players.pointafter.com/l/269/Jared-Allen" link_text="Jared Allen Overview | PointAfter"]He's recently become a major proponent of getting modified and upgraded housing for soldiers that are injured in battle.
We wish him all the best in retirement. And I love him in Kansas City. Goodbye Jared.
Jared Allen also released a more formal statement via his agent:
“I want to take this time to thank my family, friends fans, and teammates who have given their continued support throughout my 12-year career. It’s been a great ride for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the memories. It is with a great deal of thought and consideration that I have decided that I will not return to football next year. I want to thank the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and the Kansas City Chiefs organizations, who provided me with an opportunity to live out my dream and to be a part of their wonderful communities. Thanks for the life long memories.”
* This photo is courtesy of Mike Morbeck via Flickr. This photo is being used in accordance with the Creative Commons License (CC by-SA 2.0). This photo was not altered in any way and is fully compliant with the restrictions of the CC by-SA 2.0.
For the record, I never actually played football. I have no doubt that I would get crushed running across the middle for a pass, every single time.
