Former Titans Star Jurrell Casey Announces NFL Retirement After 10 Seasons

Longtime Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jurrell Casey announced his retirement from the NFL on Thursday after 10 seasons.

Casey confirmed the news to Jim Wyatt of the Titans' official website:

"My career, it was amazing, just to have the opportunity to play this game. It was beautiful. I always tried to play to the best of my ability, and always considered it an honor."

"To be able to get drafted by Tennessee, and to be able to live out a lifetime dream is everything a young man from Long Beach, California could dream of. All the relationships that I made along the way, we had a brotherhood. And Tennessee, it was a great place to call home for me and my family."

Casey, a third-round pick in the 2011 draft, played the first nine years of his career with the Titans before spending the 2020 campaign with the Denver Broncos.

The USC product immediately became a key cog in the Titans' defensive line, starting 15 games as a rookie. His production quickly soared as he recorded 55 combined tackles and a career-best 10.5 sacks during the 2013 season.

National recognition was a little slow to arrive, but it ultimately came as he received five consecutive Pro Bowl selections from 2015 through 2019.

Casey, 31, finished his Tennessee career with 493 tackles, 115 quarterback hits, 51 sacks, 12 passes defended and eight forced fumbles across 139 appearances. He also provided seamless positional versatility, switching between defensive tackle and defensive end depending on the scheme.

He couldn't replicate that success in Denver, as he played just three games before landing on injured reserve with a biceps injury that ended his 2020 season.

Casey was released by the Broncos in February and didn't sign with another team in free agency.

The California native explained to Wyatt that the injury combined with how his body felt led him to hang up his cleats for good:

"It became evident when you are getting around, trying to work out, walking up stairs and your body is not clicking the same. Last season didn't go as I planned; I got hurt, and my season was cut short. You have to understand your body, and when your body isn't responding, it is time to step away. I am not a person that wants to go out there and put bad film on the field. I can't do that to myself. I always told myself once I started collecting injuries, I couldn't allow myself to leave this game crippled."

Casey, who originally expressed frustration about his trade to the Broncos last March by saying the Titans discarded him "like a piece of trash," said expressing those feelings in public was a mistake, and any issues with the franchise have since faded away.

"But the Titans, they gave me the blessing to be here," he told Wyatt. "I was upset at the time [when I was traded], but that doesn't change the fact I love the Tennessee Titans and I will always love them. I will be a Titan forever."

Casey was listed five times in the NFL Network's Top 100 rankings, which are voted on by the players, reaching as high as No. 66 ahead of the 2018 season.