Veteran S James Ihedigbo Retiring From NFL

Veteran S James Ihedigbo announced Monday that he’s retiring from the NFL.

I’m making it official. I’m stepping away from the game I love and have had the honor of playing since I was 6 years old!! I truly thank the Lord Jesus Christ for the opportunity, but more than anything, for having his hand on my life every step of the way. An Undrafted free agent from Amherst, Massachusetts to a 10 year career and Super Bowl Champion….I swear I need to write a book!! But I seriously want to thank all of my incredible coaches along the way, Eric Mangini, Rex Ryan, Bill Belicheck, John Harbaugh, and Jim Caldwell, thank all of you for believing in me as a player, and also in my leadership on and off the field. I want to give a special thank you to Mike Westoff, my special teams coach with the New York Jets, who told me in 2007 if I wanted to make the 53 man roster that I better be a terror on Special Teams, and that’s exactly what you developed me to be!! I became a problem that had to be dealt with every Sunday!! I want to say thank you to all my trainers @mickbrueckner @speed_guru @leovjohnson and @nineinnovations @dose_9 for always pushing me to work harder and become a beast!! Thank you to all my teammates, friends and brothers for life! I want to thank my family, my mother especially, who never missed a game, even from when I was kid all the way through my entire pro career, including flying to London to watch me play! We would pray together before every single game for super natural strength thank you mom for your support!! To my amazing wife, for your love and support and holding it down, and to my brothers for always pushing me to improve and strive for greatness! Lastly I thank all my fans, I appreciate your love and support more than you’d ever know! Thank You…Gravedigger out!!! 📷 cred: @thirtythree84_ @umassfootball @nyjets @patriots @ravens @detroitlionsnfl @buffalobills

A post shared by James Ihedigbo (@diggz32) on Mar 19, 2018 at 2:43pm PDT

Ihedigbo, 34, originally signed on with the Jets as an undrafted free agent back in 2007. He spent four years in New York before catching on with the Patriots.

The Ravens signed him to a contract in 2012 and he spent two years in Baltimore before joining the Lions on a two-year contract in 2014. Ihedigbo didn’t sign on with a team until November of 2016 when the Bills added him to their roster.

He wound up sitting out the entire 2017 season.

For his career, Ihedigbo appeared in 117 games for the Jets, Ravens, Lions, Bills and Patriots and recorded 284 tackles, nine sacks, eight forced fumbles, four recoveries, eight interceptions and 24 pass defenses over the course of nine seasons.