By Jordan Long
This past weekend, New England Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski ended his NFL career after 9 seasons. He finished with 7,861 receiving yards and 79 touchdowns in the regular season. In the playoffs he totaled 81 receptions for 1,163 yards and 12 touchdowns. New England won 3 Super Bowls with him. That was the major retirement news in the NFL but there is another player who decided to call it quits, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.
Maclin started his career with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009. He caught 56 passes for 773 yards and 4 touchdowns. 2010 he scored 10 touchdowns, the most in an Eagles’ uniform. He played 5 seasons in the City of Brotherly Love. In those years he made a name for himself as one of the fastest Eagle’s receivers. Quarterbacks trusted him to catch the football and make a play for 1st downs or longer. He ended with 4,771 yards and 36 touchdowns with the Eagles. The Eagles reached the postseason 3 times with him, 2009, 2010, 2013. Philadelphia lost in the Wild Card round all those years with him.
In the 2015 offseason, Philadelphia decided to let him test free agency. They wanted him back but couldn’t clear enough cap space to keep Maclin. He went to Kansas City for 2 years. Maclin caught 131 passes for 1,624 yards and 10 touchdowns with the Chiefs.
2016 was a down year for him. Maclin missed 4 games due to a groin injury. He was still productive that season with 536 yards. Maclin was unable to break away from the defenders for touchdowns with a career low of 2. On June 2nd, 2017 Kansas City released Maclin.
He wasn’t out of a job long. The Baltimore Ravens gave him a chance, agreeing to a 2-year deal. Maclin appeared in 12 games for the Ravens and had a career low of 440 receiving yards. The Ravens let him go on March 14, 2018 after the poor season. This saved the Ravens about $5 million in cap space.
Last year Maclin sat out because teams weren’t calling him to join their team. The writing was on the wall for him to walk away from the game. He finishes his career with 6,835 receiving yards and 49 touchdowns in the regular season. In 5 playoff games he had 299 yards receiving. Maclin was voted to the Pro Bowl 1 time, 2014. It was time for him to leave the game.
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