After 11 seasons, two Super Bowl titles and two Pro Bowls, former Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck is ready to call it a career.
The former Notre Dame star and third-round pick played in just five games with the Raiders this season, registering 14 tackles and a sack, after tearing his pectoral muscle. It was his second season in Oakland following nine mostly productive seasons with the Giants.
“After months of praying and careful consideration, I have decided to retire from the game of football,” the 32-year-old Tuck wrote Monday on Facebook. “I’ve had 11 great years and honestly I leave with very few regrets.”
Tuck was best known as part of a fearsome Giants’ defensive front that productive two Super Bowl titles, both over Tom Brady and the Patriots. In the two Super Bowls, he had four sacks and a safety. His two Pro Bowl seasons came in 2008 and 2010. Tuck finishes having played 147 regular-season games, with 353 tackles and 66.5 sacks. He also recorded 5.5 sacks and 11 tackles in his 10 playoff games.
“When I came into this league, I remember telling ‘Stray’ [Michael Strahan], ‘If I get to 10 [years], I’m never coming back,’ ” Tuck told FOX Sports. “He was like, ‘Bro, listen, I said the same thing.’ And sure enough, when I got to 10, I thought, ‘I ain’t done yet.’
“Physically, I feel like I can play with the best of them. It’s hilarious I got hurt on the most fluky play ever, but it’s part of it and maybe that was God trying to tell me something. I’m looking forward to being able to do something else.”
Tuck hopes to remain in football, he told FOX. He spent time this year as an analyst with the NFL Network and he will do some TV work prior to Super Bowl 50. He also has a literacy charity in New York and the Bay Area he works with.