If you’ve followed former Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork over the course of his career, the way he handled his retirement announcement was fitting.
Wilfork announced the end of his NFL career in a Tweet on Tuesday, Tweeting a video in partnership with his sponsor, Kingsford Charcoal.
The video features the veteren defensive tackle sitting in front of his locker, removing the tape from his cleats and hanging them up by the laces on a hook as he turns and reaches for barbeque tines.
From there, Wilfork begins shaking his butt, as he’s now free from all the dog days of camp and the grind that every other player deals with this time of year.
“No more cleats,” Wilfork said a happy Wilfork in the video. “I’m moving on to smoke meats, fellas.”
“Peace-out. I’m outta here.”
The former first-round pick out of New England was selected 21st overall back in 2004 and played 11 seasons, with the final two ending with Houston with the Texans. His last game ended in a loss in the postseason against his former team last January in the Divisional round, with Wilfork’s career fittingly ending in front of all of the fans at Gillette Stadium.
Overall, he finished with 559 tackles, 16 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 3 interceptions over the course of the 189 regular-season games he was part of, with most fans likely familiar with this memorable moment by the big defensive tackle.
As for Wilfork, he also said we’ll see him again, but not on the field. The video concludes with him revealing he’ll be holding a “farewell tailgate” on September 7, 2017.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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