Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua has been one of the best wide receivers in the NFL since stepping onto the field after being selected in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL draft.
However, as good as Nacua has been, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be in the league for as long as some of his colleagues.
“I know I want to retire at the age of 30,” Nacua told USA Today. “I’m 23 right now, I’m going into Year 3 – it wouldn’t even be 10 years. It’d be maybe seven or eight. I think of Aaron Donald, to go out at the top, I think it would be super cool.
“But also, I want to have a big family. I want to have at least a starting five. I came from a big family so I need five boys, for sure. But also, like, I want to be able to be a part of their lives and be as active as I can with them. The injuries are something you can’t control [as] part of the game, so you never know.
“Hopefully, the rest of the career can go healthy, but you have shoulder surgery, you have knee surgery, you have ankle. By the time my kids could be 18, I could be barely walking if you play the game and sustain all the injuries and stuff like that, but I want to retire early.”
Fans reacted to Nacua’s statement on social media.
“Good, glad to see people putting risk in its proper context,” one fan added.
“He’ll be an interesting case study–getting run into the ground while on his rookie contract & not nearly being paid for the usage/production they’re getting out of him. By the time he’ll be ready for contract #2 Rams could dump him like Kupp. The way he plays isn’t sustainable,” one fan added.
“He’ll get a shot at 1, possibly 2 big time deals if they’re shorter with higher AAV. And the less he plays the less possibility for heavy CTE. Smart move,” someone else wrote.
It’ll be interesting to see what Nacua can accomplish in what figures to be a short career.