Baltimore Ravens: Steve Smith likely to retire after this season
By Ben Palmer
To the surprise of very few, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith announced today that Sunday’s upcoming game against the Cincinnati Bengals will likely be his last game in the NFL
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith is retiring, which really should surprise no one considering he said he was retiring last season and changed his mind after an injury.
Smith, 37, announced in a news conference today that Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals will like be his final in the NFL. As he stated, he’s “89 percent sure”, a reference to his jersey number.
“Football has given me more than I probably could give football back,” Smith said. “But for 2016-17 and beyond, this is probably my last game…I’m trying to get to Sunday without crying like a little kid.”
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Smith will retire with five Pro Bowls, and will have the distinction of being one of only 11 players to finish his career with over 1,000 catches and 14,000 receiving yards. He will also join Tim Brown as the only other player in NFL history to have more than 13,000 receiving yards and 4,000 return yards.
Smith currently has 1,028 career receptions (12th all time), 14,697 receiving yards, (7th all time), and 81 touchdowns (25th all time). Obviously those numbers will change after Sunday’s game, but even if his career ended today, he’s a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame.
“There will be mourning. There will be a lot of emotions,” Smith said. “Also, there are a lot of other things I can grasp on that you can’t take away. That I can hold on to. Whether you want to or not, you’re going to move on. That’s part of life.”
He later added, “What’s hard for me is I’m packing up my house here in Baltimore and I’m putting my career in boxes, it’s tough. It’s emotional.”
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It’s unfortunate that Smith never got to win a Super Bowl, but that won’t detract all that much from his illustrious and spirited 16-year career. He will, without a doubt, go down as one of the greatest wide receivers in the history of the game, and it’s been fun to watch him as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.