Anthony Herron

And we won't likely get the full story on that until we're further removed away from the shocking news of the dawn of retirement.

But for me, I was 28 years old.

I bounced around the NFL for five years, having surgeries with this team and that team.

And I played in the Arena Football League for a few years.

And my thought was, all right, here we go.

I'll have more job security.

It'll be a version of the sport that's less rough, still make good money doing it.

Same thing, just kept having surgeries, injuring knees on the turf, shoulders, back, everything else.

It just got to a point where I got into a training camp and I was out there.

I was recovering from my most recent surgery.

And I just didn't have it.

And I didn't even discuss it with my wife.

And, you know, wherever you're at at that point, when you've gotten to the point of playing in the National Football League, you've played professional football, you're approaching 30, when you've devoted your life to that endeavor, to trying to be the best version, to push your body to the limit as consistently as you can,

When you suddenly recognize, when you look in the mirror, or when you watch yourself on film and say, I just don't have it anymore, whether that is looking in the mirror and recognizing it mentally and emotionally, whether it is watching film and recognizing it physically, for every player, when you hit that point where you say, man, I just, I don't have it.

This isn't in me anymore.

It rocks you to your core.

And, you know, I was never a guy who was football or bust, but I was certainly a guy who put everything I had into being excellent at my craft.

And when you get to that point, it's a life-altering moment because if you haven't planned exactly for what's next or if it's happening sooner than you anticipate or if you are one of the blessed few who get to do it as long as you can dream of, at some point you're still going to be a young man and you're done with this endeavor.

And it was certainly a shock to my system.

And I look forward to hearing, if nothing else, just out of the curiosity of hoping that.