Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen announced on Friday that he's retiring from the NFL after a decade-long career. This announcement comes after he had battled injuries throughout the latter half of his tenure in the league and drastically limited his availability.
"With any chapter in the book of life, there is always an ending," Jensen wrote on social media. "The NFL chapter of my life is coming to a close. As this chapter closes and I reflect on every aspect of my career, it makes me proud. In the hard times and good, there is always something special to learn. Retiring from the game you have loved from a very young age is always hard. I am excited for this next chapter and the new opportunities and challenges it will bring.
"Thank you to the Ravens and the Buccaneers for taking a chance on a small town Colorado kid and to the Krewe for always raising the flags."
Jensen was selected in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of CSU Pueblo by the Baltimore Ravens. He'd spent the first five years of his career with the Ravens, starting in 25 of his 35 regular-season appearances. In 2018, he signed a four-year, $42 million contract with the Buccaneers in free agency, which made him the highest-paid center in the NFL. He'd then spend the latter part of his career in Tampa where he'd be named to the Pro Bowl in 2021 and helped the franchise win Super Bowl LV.
In the summer of 2022 during training camp, Jensen suffered a knee injury that landed him on injured reserve. He was activated for the Buccaneers' wild-card matchup against the Cowboys later that season and played 100% of the offensive snaps in that defeat, which proved to be his final game in the league. Jensen aggravated that injury back in August and was sidelined for the year.
