Pro Bowl Guard Walks Away From Football at 28
Tampa Bay’s Pro Bowl left guard Ali Marpet has retired at the age of 28. Still on the right side of 30, Marpet just wrapped up his first Pro Bowl season, but is choosing to walk away from football over concerns for his long term health.
In an Instagram post released Sunday afternoon, the 6’4” 307lb guard wrote “After seven formidable years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I’ve come to the decision to retire from the game that has given me so much. This organization and the people surrounding it have helped not only fulfill a dream, but also helped build me into the person I am today. I’ve made Tampa Bay my home and I look forward to serving this community in the coming years. To the coaches and teammates, family and friends, an Instagram post simply can’t express the profound impact you’ve had on me. I’m eternally grateful. Thank you Tampa Bay.”
Originally selected by the Bucs in the 2015 NFL Draft, Marpet spent his entire 7 year career with Tampa Bay, winning a Super Bowl in 2021. A product of Hobart College, the Hastings, NY native became the highest drafted Div. 3 college player in NFL history when the Buccaneers took him 61st overall.
Marpet’s teammates were quick to show their support for the move on social media in the hours following the announcement. Bucs head coach Bruce Arians stated “I can’t say enough about what Ali has meant to our team over the three seasons since my arrival. He has been the consummate professional and has been a rock for us in the interior of our offensive line. We will miss him on the field and in the locker room, but I am happy that he gets to go out as a Super Bowl champion and Pro Bowler. It is never easy saying goodbye to a player who has meant so much to our success, but I support and respect his decision and wish him a great life after football.”
Tampa Bay General Manager Jason Licht added “I want to thank Ali for all that he has done as a valued member of the Buccaneers organization over the past seven seasons. He has played a key role in our success both on and off the field and we will certainly miss his leadership and professionalism. It has been one of my greatest professional thrills to see his rapid ascension from a small college standout into one the NFL’s best all around offensive linemen. As the highest Division III player ever drafted, Ali always seemed destined for greatness on the NFL level and we simply could not have attained the success of the past two seasons without him. Off the field, as a founding member of our social justice player advisory board, Ali provided the vision and passion that was crucial to that program’s launch and ongoing work. We wish him the best and are confident he will enjoy similar success off the football field in whatever the future holds.”
A fixture of durability throughout his career, the big man missed only 12 games total over the course of 7 NFL campaigns. Marpet retires after only 101 NFL games, and leaves a massive hole on Tampa Bay’s offensive line.
With Marpet retiring, and teammates Ryan Jensen and Alex Cappa set to hit free agency, the Bucs could be facing a complete overhaul of their offensive line in 2022. Couple that with the fact that Tom Brady recently retired as well, and suddenly Tampa Bay has more questions than answers on the offensive side of the football.
Marpet joins a growing list of NFL stars who walked away from the game with plenty of tread left of the tires. Andrew Luck (29), Calvin Johnson (30), and Luke Kuechly (28) are just some of the notable stars who have hung up their cleats in the primes of their careers.
The 28 year old was slated to make $10M in 2022.
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.