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After nine seasons with three different teams, Darren Waller decided to move away from the NFL after the 2023 season.
He appeared in 12 games with the New York Giants in what turned out to be the last year of his career in the NFL. Last June, Waller admitted to a video published on his YouTube channel, his “passion” for football “slowly faded.
“I decided to retire from the football game,” he wrote on Instagram. “To God: What a trip, and thank you. We took it much further than I could never have imagined! So grateful for all PPLs that I could connect and create memories along the way. We still have much more life. I love you all. Peace.”
Waller was 31 years old when he decided to call him.
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Darren Waller of the New York Giants takes place on the field before a match against the Seattle Seahawks at Metlife Stadium on October 2, 2023, at East Rutherford, NJ (Images Kevin Sabitus / Getty)
While Waller reached the one -year brand of his NFL retirement, the old tight end shared a preview leading to his surprising decision. Waller said it took a handful of games in his only season with the Giants to realize that he was ready to retire.
Darren Waller reflects on divorce and retirement, says he had to look in the mirror ”
“I knew I was retiring when we played in Buffalo,” said Waller during a recent appearance on the podcast “The Side you don’t wat”. “It was a game where it was really controversial because one of the guys held me at the end, and they didn’t call it.
Darren Waller of the New York Giants in the first half of a pre-season match against the Carolina Panthers at the Metlife Stadium on August 18, 2023, at East Rutherford, NJ (Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
“It was in the first quarter of the game. We were performing this counter-race game game, and I’m a bit like leading through the hole as if I am a rear, and the game works. But I sit on the sidelines after a reader where we ran like three times, and I don’t even want to do that — more.”
The moment had a lasting impact on Waller, who said he had sits on the sidelines while looking at the sky.
Darren Waller Giants New York Giants in the tunnel for a match against the Eagles of Philadelphia in Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on December 25, 2023. (Eric Hartline / USA TODAY SPORTS)
“I just look at the moon – it’s at the beginning of the first trimester (or) in the second trimester – and no one else really knows that I think I think that, but I’m on the sidelines like,” yes. I will end this year at the best of my abilities, but I definitely finished this year. “”
The Bills survived the Giants in the match, celebrating a 14-9 victory.
Waller finished his brief passage with the giants with 552 reception yards and a touchdown. He had a turbulent season which included a brief hospitalization. He suffered an injury to the hamstrings in the week 8, which made him miss several games.
Far from the field, 2024 also marked the end of Waller’s wedding with the star of the WNBA, Kelsey Plum. The two asked for divorce from Las Vegas in April 2024.
