Eugene Monroe Announces His Retirement From Football Citing CTE

After being released by the Ravens in June offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens, Eugene Monroe has announced his retirement according to The Players’ Tribune. Monroe went as the eighth pick in the 2009 NFL draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In the letter he wrote that he “still has the physical ability to play at a very high level, so I know my decision to retire may be puzzling to some.” He stated the most (90%) of football players have CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) which is a degenerative disease in athletes that have a high occurrence of repetitive brain trauma like concussions or asymptomatic concussions.

His health concerns and thinking of his family prevailed over his love for the game, but man did he love it. He is going to spend his new-found time enjoying his family and working for causes. Monroe is an advocate of using marijuana instead of opioids and pills to help athletes deal with pain and potential brain problems. He will continue to work with the NFL on this subject.

As a sophomore at the University of Virginia, Monroe was All-ACC and voted the ACC’s most outstanding blocker. He earned a school season-record of 105 knockdowns in 2008.

Monroe was integral in the Jaguars offense and only missed three games during his stay in Jacksonville. He was traded to Baltimore in 2013 upon which began a string of injuries undergoing surgery on his knee, an ankle injury and shoulder injury causing him to miss half of the Ravens’ games.

In his career games with the Jaguars and the Ravens he made 90 starts in 93 games.