Lions Nose Tackle John Penisini Announces Retirement
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John Penisini has become the latest Detroit Lions player to announce his retirement this offseason.
The nose tackle officially called it quits via an Instagram post early Saturday morning.
“I have made the decision to retire from football,” Penisni said in the post. “I’m definitely going to miss my teammates and the coaching staff but I’m glad I got to experience it. I’m happy and excited for whatever life has for me. For my family, friends, teammates, coaches and all the people who supported my dream along the way I appreciate and love you guys. Go Lions.”
Penisini, who was drafted in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, is the second Lions player this offseason to call it a career.
Undrafted rookie cornerback Jermaine Waller was the first to do it, announcing his retirement earlier this week.
"You just try to get them to ponder it as much as possible and really — that’s really, ultimately for me, what I want to know they’ve done," Detroit head man Dan Campbell commented, when discussing the Waller decision. "They’ve really thought it out and tried to at least look out, and they’ve got a plan. They’re able to know they’re about to make a decision that they can walk away from and never look back on. So, that’s part of it. Everybody’s, it hits everybody a little different, at different times and for us on that standpoint, it’s better that it happened now than later."
Penisini hadn't reported to mandatory minicamp this week, and now the reason why is crystal clear.
The Utah product ends his NFL career with 49 total tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack, a fumble recovery and a lone pass defensed. He suited up for 32 games in two seasons with Detroit.
