On Wednesday the Seattle Seahawks and Sidney Rice parted ways as the 27-year-old receiver announced his sudden retirement from the NFL following a seven year career.
The receiver started his career in 2007 with the Minnesota Vikings when he was drafted with the 44th pick in the second round after the Vikings traded with the Atlanta Falcons to get the earlier draft choice.
“I was just thinking about things I’ve been through in the last few years,” said Rice, a big-play wide receiver who signed with the Seahawks in 2011 after playing his first four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. “I’ve hit the ground a number of times. I have quite a few injuries. It’s something I’ve always battled through and came back from. But I just figure at this point I have the rest of my life ahead of me and I want to be able to function and do things later down the road.”
Rice was released by the team in February to make room in the teams salary cap but was re-signed in April.
The player’s best season came in 2009 when he had 1,312 receiving yards with eight touchdowns. That season led him to be picked up in the 2011 offseason by Seattle to a 5 year $41 million dollar deal.
However after that deal he only managed to stay healthy for one full season with the Seahawks and was plagued with injuries in 2011 only appearing in 9 games, stayed healthy through 2012 and last season was only seen in 8 games as he battled with an ACL injury he suffered in week 8.
It should be interesting how this will shake up the receiving core for the team as it was expected Rice would be the 3rd receiver for the team. It appears that Jermaine Kearse will likely take over the number three role now on the depth chart.