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Colts’ Ex-Star Announces Retirement at 35

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WESTFIELD, INDIANA - JULY 28: Stephon Gilmore #5 of the Indianapolis Colts on the field during training camp on July 28, 2022 at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Indiana. on July 28, 2022 in Westfield, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

The Indianapolis Colts were not the peak of Stephon Gilmore’s NFL career.

But they were the part of the journey for one of the best cornerbacks of his generation, a player who at his peak was considered by some to be the best defensive player in the entire league.

That career has officially ended this week. Gilmore plans to officially retire on Friday as a member of the New England Patriots, for whom he won a Super Bowl ring.

Gilmore, 35, will actually celebrate his 36th birthday on Saturday. After not playing for any team during the 2025 season, he’s finally hanging up his cleats for good.

Stephon Gilmore With Colts

Gilmore came to Indianapolis ahead of the 2022 season as a free agent, having finished the previous year with the Carolina Panthers.

The veteran, who was in his age-32 season, was rock solid for Indy. He played in 16 games and made 66 tackles.

Gilmore intercepted a pair of passes for the Colts and had 11 passes defensed.

He didn’t earn any awards, but he remained a trustworthy boundary corner who opposing teams often looked away from.

The Colts moved on from Gilmore after just the one season. They traded him to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2023 fifth-round pick, which turned into running back Evan Hull.

Stephon Gilmore Career Timeline

Gilmore grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina and stayed in his home state for college to play for the South Carolina Gamecocks.

He was a standout in the SEC, earning himself the honor of being the No. 10 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft first round by the Buffalo Bills.

Gilmore spent his first five seasons in Buffalo, intercepting 14 passes and making 226 tackles. He was named to his first Pro Bowl in his final season with the Bills, when he picked off five passes, a career-high up to that point.

He then moved elsewhere in the AFC East Division to the Patriots, for whom he won his one Super Bowl and also had a career-high six interceptions and 20 passes defensed during the 2019 season.

The four years in New England were followed with eight games for the Carolina Panthers in 2021, when he was named to the Pro Bowl for a final time despite playing just half a season.

Gilmore then played his 16 games for the Colts in 2022, 17 games for the Cowboys in 2023 and 15 games for the Vikings in 2024.

Gilmore wasn’t under contract during the 2025 season.

Amazingly, he had at least one interception in every single season of his NFL career, and in 180 career games, Gilmore picked off 32 passes in total.

At his peak, he was named the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year, and with his career now officially complete, Gilmore will have a case to one day be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Billy Heyen Billy Heyen is a Heavy contributor with focus on the NFL and MLB. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who spent his senior year following Jim Boeheim's basketball team around the country. His reporting work has also included extensive work for The Sporting News, the Sandusky Register and Rochester's Democrat & Chronicle. Adventures in sports writing have also led to in-person coverage of the Buffalo Sabres, Cleveland Guardians, U.S. men's national soccer team and a variety of minor league baseball stories. More about Billy Heyen

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Colts’ Ex-Star Announces Retirement at 35

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