Getty Former Atlanta Falcons RB Todd Gurley.
At 28 years old, former Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley is hanging up his cleats.
NFL Network announced Gurley’s retirement on Friday, October 21.
2-time All-Pro RB Todd Gurley told NFL Network that he is done playing football. He’s officially retiring.
But Gurley took to Twitter to call out the media, saying “you’re late.”
Adding, “So ready for a story I can’t even do my own first for my friends and family..”
Y’all Late‼️
So ready for a story I can’t even do my own first for my friends and family..
He sent off another tweet that wrote, “Fake news.”
Fake News
If you follow Gurley on Twitter or have had him on your team, you know that he loves to joke and is extremely sarcastic.
Gurley’s career has been over for some time, so really, this is no news to anyone and he used the moment to make a few jokes about it.
Gurley Takes Time to Thank Several NFL Running Backs
Gurley’s official retirement announcement actually came after he announced it during a live segment on NFL Network.
“I don’t think there’s any question about that one,” Gurley told Andrew Siciliano when asked if he was “calling it quits.”
The question initially aroused from a long Twitter thread of Gurley thanking a handful of running backs earlier in the week.
“I just wanted to show gratitude, man, because there’s a lot of guys that’s on this earth and especially as all alpha males, we don’t show the love that we’re supposed to,” he explained. “I just wanted to let those guys know that I appreciate them for everything that they’ve done for me, just from an inspirational level, just from watching those guys when I was four or five years old.
“We don’t do that a lot, man. We don’t pick each other up, we don’t congratulate each other. We see each other postgame and that’s pretty much it. I just wanted to let everybody know that I appreciate everybody.”
Gurley Played Just One Season in Atlanta
Gurley spent just one season in Atlanta, where he rushed for 678 yards and nine touchdowns through 15 games.
The Falcons chose not to re-sign Gurley ahead of the 2020 season and he has remained a free agent since.
Prior to joining the Falcons, the former 10th overall pick out of Georgia spent his first five seasons with the Rams. Following two remarkable seasons, the Rams went on to sign Gurley to a four-year, $60 million contract extension in 2018, which made him the highest-paid running back in league history.
Gurley developed arthritis in his knee ahead of the 2019 season and his production decreased. Rams head coach Sean McVay managed his workload after the arthritis report and didn’t have Gurley play as many snaps. But his overall health and decline in production is what ultimately led to his release and retirement.
During his six-year stint, he was named to the All-Pro team twice and the Pro Bowl three times. Gurley was also named the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2015 and the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2017 after leading the league in touchdowns.
He ends his NFL career with a total of 6,082 yards rushing and 67 touchdowns in 88 games, along with 243 passes for 2,254 yards and 13 touchdowns in the air.