Kyle Orton Ends NFL Career, Promptly Vanishes from Ralph Wilson Stadium

Like an old dog crawling under the porch to expire in solitude, Kyle Orton ended his NFL career with a quiet disappearing act.

New York sports correspondent Prescott Rossi reports that the Buffalo Bills quarterback vanished from team facilities shortly after announcing his retirement from the league.

Rossi tweeted pictures of Orton's abandoned locker, painting a sad little vista of the end of a transient career. He says the Bills quarterback told members of the media he'd return to answer questions after a meeting but simply never came back. He slunk out.

Rossi says a number of Orton's teammates didn't know of his retirement until the media reported it.

It's a somehow fitting end for the journeyman quarterback.

After pinballing around the league to five different teams over his 10-year career, Orton has left behind enough locker rooms to know the score. He did his job, finished the contract and left before the ink dried. Bills fans will hold a weird little place in their hearts for his lip blanket, but no one mourns the departure of Orton—so why hang around the locker room ginning up sob stories about missing the team he played a single season of football for?

Nope. Orton out, baby.

The deed is done, the check is in the mail—and besides, he's got family time to catch up on.

It's not a sad or pitiful ending; it's just not one worthy of fanfare. We'll remember you with vague and unsubstantiated fondness, Kyle. See you next year, when the Arizona Cardinals come knocking mid-season.

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