So I didn’t just wake up one morning and decide, You know what? I’m going to retire today.
I contemplated it for over a year.
There were days when I was elated because I was breaking records and making my family, friends and fans proud. But the more I played … even that pride couldn’t outweigh the pain I felt while shuffling my feet across the floor because I couldn’t bend my ankles. I didn’t want to worry about potentially being in too much pain to play with my son, you know?
And that’s not all. My fingers are all kinds of jacked up. My job was to play receiver. I got paid to catch the ball. But there was a point when every time the ball hit my fingers, they ached.
There were other aches and pains and things I don’t need to go into, but eventually, my body said to me, “I’m done.’
And I listened.