Safety Eric Weddle’s Twitter post announcing his retirement didn’t include any discussion of why he was choosing to walk away from the game, but he has since expanded on the reasons for the decision.
Weddle said 2019 was “a long season” that he spent playing in Los Angeles for the Rams and seeing his family in San Diego for short periods of time early each week. Weddle was dealing with a knee injury over the course of the year, which made the circumstances tougher and helped him realize he was ready for something else.
“I thought, ‘What’s one more year?’” Weddle said, via Albert Breer of SI.com. “I know I can still play, and play at a high level, even with the knee. But thinking about going through a whole season, going through the pain, honestly, it made me sick to my stomach. And I realized if my heart’s not in it, my mind’s not in it, then it’s time to go. I always follow my gut and that’s what I’m feeling right now.”
Weddle said he plans to take 2020 off and spend it with his family. Beyond that, he’s thinking about getting into coaching, working in media or doing something else related to football in the next chapter of his life.