After seven years with the Buccaneers, guard Ali Marpet retired from the NFL this offseason at the age of just 28. He says his primary concern was taking care of his body.
“The biggest reason for me was the physical toll: I didn’t want any more of that. There were some things I wanted to accomplish in my career that I had done,” Marpet told the Guardian. “I loved playing football. But one of my strongest values is health and if I’m really going to live out what’s important to me it doesn’t make sense to keep playing. There are also the unknowns of the head trauma of the NFL and how that plays out. Plus, your joints, the aches and pains that come with surgeries and all that stuff.”
Marpet said that having to carry the weight that every NFL offensive lineman has to carry resulted in him developing sleep apnea and hypertension.
“I was eating as clean as possible for a 300-pounder but having all the weight on your body is bad,” he said.
Now Marpet, who made about $37 million in his NFL career, is ready for a healthier next phase of his life.