Former Raiders Pro-Bowl TE Darren Waller Gives Powerful Retirement Message

Former Las Vegas Raiders Pro-Bowl tight end Darren Waller has decided to hang up the cleats.

We reported recently that Waller had been expected to retire from the NFL, and on Sunday, he officially did so with a video message.

Waller described a near-death experience he had last season, where he felt a fever come on, incontrollable shaking and shortness of breath. It was a wakeup call for the longtime NFL tight end, as Waller realized he wanted to be satisfied with the life he has lived when the day comes that he exits this life.

"There's plenty of reasons that go into [retiring], Waller said. "And it's funny -- talking through this whole situation and looking at my contract, and I think I owe back like a little bit under a million dollars in bonus money. And there's a lot of people that have had conversations with me, coming up to me and asking if I have made my decision yet, and the common thought process is: 'How could you leave money like that on the table which is excessive? $30 million over the next three years.' And to a lot of [people], that's a whole lot of money, $750,000 is a lot of money, and i understand and respect that. But I feel like I've spent most of my life doing what I should be doing and measuring that in the eyes of what people would expect from me. I've been a people pleaser my whole life, somebody that has struggled with worth, confidence, feeling valuable.

"And you find value in people accepting you because of the way you play a game, the way you go out there and do what you do and entertain. And that comes with great moments, great connections with fans and people that have been inspired in a lot of different ways by me, which is all cool, but at the same time, it's like, I feel like I always end up at the stop of my life looking way better than it feels if I continue to base my life off of that and my decisions off of that. And just an opportunity for me to kind of take back the power in my life, start to make choices for myself, take control. And whether my passions or the things that I want to be interested in going forward don't bring me another dime, it's like, at least if I'm going to be in a situation where -- because I don't know how much time I got left on this earth -- I'll be able to be in that bed and be like, 'I'm cool, I've lived a lot of life. I've already lived a lot of life in 31 years.' I should've died at least four times. At least. But I'm still here, so it's like at this point, it's about becoming who I really am."

Waller played five seasons for the Las Vegas Raiders before departing in free agency last offseason to join the New York Giants.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.