Former Vikings Tight End Rhett Ellison Announces Retirement

Former Vikings tight end Rhett Ellison announced his retirement from the NFL on Thursday. Ellison, who spent the last three years with the Giants, missed the final six games of 2019 with a concussion and has decided to call it a career after eight seasons.

"The past few weeks, it's kind of been an emotional rollercoaster," Ellison told Giants.com. "But the overwhelming feeling I have is gratitude. Just thinking back to all the people in my life, even before I put pads on, that were able to nurture and grow the gifts God put into me and make this career possible. I think that was the biggest thing that was the fun part about the retirement process, which is reflecting on those people, thanking those people, reaching out and just the lessons they taught me, the tools they gave me for my life after football."

Ellison, a native of the Bay Area, was a fourth-round compensatory pick by the Vikings in the 2012 draft after playing at USC. He spent five years in Minnesota as a backup tight end and important special teams player. Ellison finished his Vikings career with 51 catches for 515 yards and three touchdowns, plus a one-yard rushing touchdown on his only career carry.

During the 2017 offseason, Ellison signed a four-year, $18 million deal with the Giants. With New York, he was utilized more in the passing game. Ellison posted career highs of 24 catches, 235 receiving yards, and two touchdowns in 2017. He then caught 25 passes for 272 yards in 2018, and was on pace for similar numbers last season until getting concussed. Ellison finished his three-year Giants career with 674 receiving yards and three touchdowns, giving him 1,189 yards and eight total touchdowns for his career.

Ellison was also an important contributor as a run blocker throughout his career, helping pave the way for players like Adrian Peterson and Saquon Barkley. And he was known as a valuable special teams player and a great teammate.

"He's definitely the best teammate I ever had," said Giants tight end Evan Engram. "Rhett not only helped me with so many things on the field, but helped me off the field, too. I'm going to miss him. He's definitely going to be a friend of mine for life."

Ellison plans to spend more time with his wife and their kids, a two-year-old daughter and an infant son.

He joins offensive lineman Jeremiah Sirles as former Vikings to announce their retirement this month. Fullback Zach Line did so in January. All three are 31 or younger and cited injuries as part of their reasoning for hanging up the cleats.