Tyler Varga Placed on Colts Reserved/Retired List: Latest Comments and Reaction

The Indianapolis Colts announced the inconspicuous signing of free-agent running back Abou Toure on Tuesday but added that ball-carrier Tyler Varga was placed on the reserve/retired list.

Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star reported Varga, 22, was initially put on the "did not report" list, which was thought to be a harbinger of his decision to retire.

As was reported by the Indianapolis Star's Zak Keefer, Varga suffered a concussion last season that lasted four months. It's unclear whether Varga's retirement decision is linked to the head injury, but he did, from Holder's understanding, pass concussion protocol this offseason.

Indianapolis' announcement about Varga mentioned him as a running back, but he was more known as a fullback and played special teams for the Colts as a rookie in 2015.

A product of Yale who went undrafted despite running for 1,423 yards and 22 touchdowns in his final year with the Bulldogs, Varga wasn't expected to make the Colts' final roster.

Varga did enough to stick around into the regular season, though—and saw action on the field early. He logged one carry for two yards and caught one pass for 18 yards in the three games he appeared in.

Unfortunately, per Keefer, the huge hit Varga took on kickoff coverage in Week 3 of last season against the Buffalo Bills had serious repercussions. He was apartment hunting the following Tuesday, and after touring four complexes, he couldn't remember being inside any of them.

"It was pretty scary at that point," Varga said, per Keefer. "I mean, I was in one of the apartments like five minutes earlier."

Varga explained how he didn't want to go through concussion protocol initially upon suffering the injury, because he feared for his job security. Then came the concerns about missing out on practice reps.

In light of the traumatic head injury Varga suffered, his retirement doesn't come as a big surprise even if he was cleared. Former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland retired after just one NFL season in March 2015 due to concern about repetitive head trauma and its long-term effects.

The NFL and NFLPA announced a new policy on Monday to hone in even more on enforcing game-day concussion protocol. Forfeiture of draft picks is a possible course of disciplinary action if a team is found to keep a player in a game for competitive reasons.

Players tend to have the mindset of playing through pain ingrained as part of their programming. Varga even told Keefer he "wanted to believe [he] was just sick" when he began to feel the symptoms of his concussion.

At first, Varga had the desire to fight through his concussion. Following a lengthy recovery process in which he wasn't right until late January, per Keefer, it appears one hit cost Varga the chance to continue his NFL career.