Former Steelers LB Ryan Shazier officially announced he was retiring from football.
https://twitter.com/RyanShazier/status/1303700330442559488
“Football gave me everything I ever wanted and more … I’m here today to make sure the world knows how much I still love football. … Today I am officially retiring from the game I love so much,” Shazier said.
Shazier hasn’t played since suffering a serious spinal injury in 2017 and he’s already on Pittsburgh’s retired list. But the former first-round pick had not yet given up hope that he could potentially recover enough to return to an NFL field.
The past few years, Pittsburgh has kept him on its injured lists as his contract tolled, finally putting him on the retired list this past May, in order to continue to give him access to team facilities and medical personnel during his attempted comeback.
This ends that goal, but the fact that Shazier is healthy and walking remains an incredible milestone.
Shazier, 28, is a former first-round pick of the Steelers back in 2014. He was in the final year of his four-year, $9.5 million contract and set to make a base salary of $1,284,292 for the 2016 season when the Steelers picked up his fifth-year option.
In 2017, Shazier appeared in 11 games and recorded 87 tackles, three interceptions, a fumble recovery, two forced fumbles and 10 pass defenses. Pro Football Focus had him rated as the No. 8 inside linebacker out of 87 qualifying players at the time of his injury.
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