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After 13 seasons in the league, veteran center Alex Mack is throwing in the towel.
On the morning of Thursday, June 2, Mack had agreed to rework his deal that would save the San Francisco 49ers $4 million in cap space, per ESPN’s Field Yates.
Yates hinted in his report that the Niners “may need to find another C soon” and by that afternoon NFL insider Michael Silver announced via Twitter that Mack is hanging up his cleats and retiring.
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Mack Had A Goal To Play 10 Years in The League
When Mack entered the league as a first-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2009, he initially had a goal to play for at least 10 years in the NFL.
Ahead of the 2020 season, the then-34-year-old Mack was asked about potential retirement and told ESPN that his body felt good and he would continue to pay attention to what his body wanted him to do when it came to calling it quits.
“I’ll play the year out, see how I feel — how my body works and how much I’m enjoying it — then make the decision at the end of year if I want to keep going or what. The future is unknown, and that’s the way I’m looking at it. Every year is one year at a time: keep going, prepare, and play, and do everything as best as I can. Then I’ll see where I’m at.”
He surpassed his goal and played 13.
Mack spent the first seven years of his career with the Cleveland Browns before signing with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016. He played in the ‘A’ until the end of 2020 season and then headed back to his roots in California after inking a three-year deal with the Niners.
There’s no question that Mack, a seven-time bowler will go down in history as one of the most dependable centers to ever play in the NFL. He missed just two games [both in 2020 for a concussion] during his five-year reign in Atlanta and did not miss a single snap last offseason, starting in all 17 regular-season games and all three playoff contests.
Mack’s Infamous Broken Leg Game
There are a lot of Alex Mack highlights to reminisce on but one that sticks out the most is the time he played all four quarters with a broken leg.
On February 5, 2017, the Falcons fell 34-28 in overtime to the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LI.
After the game, it was confirmed that Mack––with a fracture in his left leg–– had played all 46 snaps on offense in which Atlanta was able to rush for 104 yards in the game. In fact, he had actually suffered the injury during the Falcons’ win over Green Bay in the NFC Championship.
“We found out after the NFC Championship Game that it was broken,” Mack told ESPN after the brutal loss in 2017. “That’s tough news to take. It turned out it was a high enough break in the fibula that it didn’t cause any instability in the ankle of anything … I was more afraid of not being able to play in this game than how hard it would be.”
Cya in Canton, tough guy.
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