Carolina Panthers’ Linebacker Luke Kuechly Announces Retirement

Panthers‘ linebacker Luke Kuechly announced his retirement Tuesday with an emotional farewell video posted on the team’s Twitter account.

In the video, Kuechly revealed why he is leaving the game at the age of 28. “In my heart, I know it’s the right thing to do…There’s only one way to play this game since I was a little kid, to play fast, to play physical to play strong. And at this point I don’t know if I’m able to do that anymore,” he said. “And that’s the part that’s most difficult. I still want to play, but I don’t think it’s the right decision.”

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Kuechly later added, “I think now is the right chance for me to move on. It makes me sad because I love playing this game, I’ve played it since I was a kid. It’s my favorite thing in the world to do. The memories I have from this place and this organization and being on the field with these guys—they’ll never go away.”