Jerrell Freeman Announces Retirement from NFL After 6 Seasons

Former Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears linebacker Jerrell Freeman announced his retirement Wednesday after six years in the NFL. 

"My health and family are my top priorities," he wrote. "I wanted to thank all the coaches and teammates I have played with over the years; you have impacted my life more than you'll ever know!"

This comes after the Bears cut him this offseason. Freeman played just one game during the 2017 campaign because of a torn pectoral muscle and was also suspended for 10 contests for violating the league's performance-enhancing drugs policy.

That Freeman pointed to his health while announcing his retirement is notable for more than just the season-ending pectoral injury he suffered in 2017.

As Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune noted, the linebacker issued a statement following the 10-game suspension—which was his second suspension for the same violation within a year—saying pills he took to deal with a concussion caused the positive test.

"Knowing my career may be over due (to) everything that came with the head injury (that's been purposely downplayed by me), memory loss and all, has actually been a bit of a struggle," Freeman wrote.

Freeman was a force when he was healthy and tallied 145 combined tackles during his rookie season with the Colts. He finished with more than 100 tackles three more times in his career, including the 2016 campaign with the Bears when he posted 110.

He also made the playoffs three times with the Colts.

Freeman is 32 years old and coming off a serious injury. He recognized his career may have been over when he issued the statement regarding his suspension, and he will apparently shift his focus to his health and family now that his days in the NFL are over.