Former Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe announced Friday that he was retiring from the NFL.
This announcement comes after Wolfe settled with the Ravens over injuries he suffered last year. Wolfe missed all of last season with hip and back injuries and was cut by the team.
“After 10 seasons in the NFL, I’ve decided it’s time to step away from the game,” Wolfe said in a video released on the Denver Broncos’ Twitter account. “Time for a new beginning.”
“I’m just super grateful, very emotional, I’m happy to be done with the game because you guys know the injuries were just piling up and piling up,” Wolfe said Friday.
Wolfe spent the first eight seasons of his NFL career with the Broncos before signing with the Ravens in 2020. However, he officially retired as a Bronco, the team he won a Super Bowl with, on Friday.
“In my opinion, that Super Bowl was the easiest game that we played all year,” Wolfe said in his retirement video. “All season. Easiest game, because we knew that there was nothing, there was no denying that victory for us. We weren’t going to be beat. We just knew it.”
During his press conference, Wolfe mentioned how he never thought he’d see his career play out as well as it did.
“If you would have offered me this deal then, 21 years old, I would have taken it in a heartbeat, no questions asked,” Wolfe said. “In my wildest dreams, I would have never imagined myself in this position.”
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.