NFL veteran Maurice Jones-Drew has annoucned his retirement from the NFL after nine seasons via Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
Jones-Drew, was originally drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the second round and 60th overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars after having an All-American senior season at UCLA.
Jones Drew made an impact with the Jaguars from day one, rushing for 941 yards and 13 touchdowns on 166 carries in 2006. Over the 2007 and 2008 seasons, Jones-Drew would have similar stats, rushing for 768 in 2007 and 824 in 2008.
In 2009, he eventually had the chance to become the Jaguars primary running back and took advantage of it by setting career highs in carries, rushing yards, and touchdowns.
From 2009-2011, Jones-Drew was considered one of the NFL's elite running backs as he went to three consecutive Pro Bowls and was named a First-Team All-Pro in 2010 and 2011 as well.
After 2011, Jones-Drew's career went downhill. In 2012, Jones-Drew held out of Jaguars training camp due to contract negotiations. He would hold out all of the pre-season and finally reported to the team on September 2nd. He would rush for 414-yards and a single touchdown on 86 carriers in 2012 before suffering a season-ending injury.
In 2013, the then seven-year veteran saw a potential return to his former high performance days as he rushed for 803 -yards on 234 carriers to go along with five touchdowns. Following the season he became a free-agent.
On March 28th, 2014, Jones-Drew signed a three-year deal with the Oakland Raiders. However due to the competition of Darren McFadden and Latavius Murray, Drew saw a limited amount of carries in 2014. In what would be his last NFL season, Jones-Drew rushed for 96 yards on 43 attempts while having 11 receptions for 71-yards. He would fail to score a single touchdown.