Dan Morgan, New Orleans Saints Linebacker, Retires—This Time It's Final

For the second time in 13 months, linebacker Dan Morgan has retired, according to his agent Drew Rosenhaus, who announced the retirement on his Twitter page.

Rosenhaus says this time around, the decision is final and that Morgan would not pursue another comeback to the NFL.

“Dan Morgan has informed the Saints that he has decided to retire due [to] continued injuries,” Rosenhaus said. “Dan would like to thank the Saints for the chance to come back this year, but injuries would not let him continue his career. His decision [is] final and he will be moving on to focus on his restaurant business in Charlotte. Dan also wants to be able to spend more time with his wife and children.”

Morgan was once a standout player in the NFL while with the Carolina Panthers from 2001 to 2007. Morgan just couldn’t seem to stay healthy, battling injury in virtually every season of his pro career, and never played a full 16 games.

After Morgan was released from Carolina last season, he signed with the Saints early in the 2008 offseason, only to announce his retirement some weeks later, blaming his constant injury and their lingering affects.

He sat out the entire 2008 season before announcing he planned to make a comeback to football with the Saints, citing he was as healthy as he had ever been.

Morgan was re-instated on Feb. 12, shortly there after he joined the team in Metairie for the start of the team's offseason workouts.

He had been active in every workout and OTA since and by all accounts was doing extremely well. It was even rumored that Morgan may have been the favorite to start at the weakside linebacker position.

During the teams recent mini-camp on June 5, Morgan was hampered by what was reported as a very minor calf injury.

Apparently to Morgan, it wasn’t so minor.

After the injury, he dressed, left the facility, and was not heard from by the team again until he announced his re-retirement.

The Saints are now down two linebackers after Morgan’s retirement. The Saints fourth-round pick, Wake Forrest linebacker Stanley Arnoux, most likely will miss the entire season after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon during the teams rookie mini-camp.

Keith Null is the lead writer at whodatdish.com, part of the fansided blog network. Follow the New Orleans Saints through whodatdish.com at twitter.com/whodatdish