CARDINALS WR AJ GREEN CALLS TIME ON 12-YEAR CAREER
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver AJ Green is retiring from football. The 34-year-old announced the news on social media on Monday.
“I’ve never been a man of many words, so I’ll keep this short,” said Green via Instagram. “Thank you. Thank you to all who have supported, encouraged, and inspired me throughout my career. Special thank you to the University of Georgia, Cincinnati Bengals, and Arizona Cardinals for the opportunity to pursue my dreams.
“I’ve stayed true to the game and it owes me nothing. Be blessed. Love y’all! The next chapter begins…”
Green is one of only 52 players all-time to record over 10,000 receiving yards in their career and could be headed to Canton for a golden jacket in the future. The 6 foot 4, 208-pound receiver registered an impressive 10,514 career receiving yards from 727 receptions in 158 games in his career. He is also second all-time in receiving yards and touchdowns (70) in Cincinnati Bengals’ history, behind Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson.
The 2011 fourth overall pick earned 7 Pro Bowl selections in his 12 seasons in the league, with all seven nods coming in his first 7 years in the NFL. Green adapted to the Pro level of play extremely quickly coming out of college. His 3,833 receiving yards in his first three seasons in the league rank fourth all-time, behind only Justin Jefferson, Randy Moss, and Odell Beckham Jr.
Green was also a two-time First Team All-Pro and is one of only five wide receivers to amass more than 10,000 receiving yards since entering the league in 2011. Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receivers Julio Jones and Mike Evans, Green’s former teammate DeAndre Hopkins, and Antonio Brown are the only other pass catchers in that group.
The former Georgia Bulldog was ranked on the NFL Top 100 eight years in a row and registered thirty three 100-yard receiving games with the Bengals, the most in the franchise’s history.
A strong candidate for the Bengals’ ring of honor, Green left Cincinnati for the desert following the 2020 season, signing back-to-back one-year contracts with Arizona. He tallied 78 receptions for 1,084 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 31 games for the Cardinals.
Cardinals DE JJ Watt who was also drafted in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft and recently called time on his illustrious career at the end of this season said “Loved taking the field with you bro. It has been a true honor. Incredible career and a hell of a TD in your final game. Best draft class of all time! Love ya brother, AJ Green!’
In an interview with ESPN in December of last year, Green addressed the prospect of retirement and said he was “stress free” and “at peace with it.”
“Whatever happens is going to happen,” Green said. “I made the money. I have the accolades. I’m stress free. Whatever happens next year, I’m at peace with it. If I want to play, then I will have an opportunity, but if I don’t want to play, I can walk around with my head held high.
   “I always told people… physically, I can play this game for a while, but mentally I don’t know if I can go through it again. You know what I mean? And I’m a guy that never wanted to cheat the game, so if I’m not all-in, I’m going to be all out.”
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.