Darren Waller announces retirement after 'very scary' near-death experience

Describing himself as having “made people people my whole life,” Waller said: “This is an opportunity for me to take back the power in my life, to start making choices for myself, to take control. »

“I am forever grateful for football,” Waller added. “I wouldn't be able to have this conversation, to think or reflect on myself, without the opportunity to save my life and go to rehab, which the NFL gave me.”

In an incident that occurred in early November, according to Waller, after he injured his hamstring during a home game against the New York Jets and stayed in New Jersey to work with trainers while the Giants were traveling to Las Vegas to face the Raiders, he felt a “fever.” arriving” as he was on his way home and “was shaking quite violently, uncontrollably” by the time he arrived. Waller said he called 911 and had an agonizing wait for paramedics, during which he felt like he was “dying on this couch” in a “very scary event.”

Spending the next three days in a hospital in a physically incapacitated state, Waller said, led to a reevaluation of her athletic career and her then-marriage to WNBA star Kelsey Plum. After getting married in March 2023, the couple filed for divorce in April.

“I'm doing something that I've found a lot of joy in and had some incredible times with,” Waller said Sunday of his self-assessment, “but the passion has slowly faded away. You know , I'm with a great person, but I feel so much about myself that is driven by codependency…I feel like I've spent most of my life doing what I do. should I do and measure this in light of what people expect of me.

Waller's comments followed reports earlier Sunday about his retirement plans. A Giants spokesperson said the team learned from Waller's agent that the nine-year veteran intended to end his career.

“We have great respect for Darren as a person and a player,” the Giants said in a statement. “We wish him nothing but the best.”

Waller stayed away from the Giants' recent volunteer-organized team activities, reportedly forgoing a $200,000 bonus in the process, and became the subject of speculation about his desire to continue playing. Waller's decision came two days before New York's players were scheduled to report to a mandatory minicamp.

As part of a three-year, $51 million contract extension he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in September 2022 that, at the time, made Waller the tight end the highest paid, he was owed $10.525 million in salary this season. His retirement frees up $11.625 million in salary cap space (per Spotrac) for the Giants, who traded for Waller in March 2023.

With Waller removed, the Giants depth chart at tight end is led by Daniel Bellinger, a third-year veteran drafted in the fourth round two years ago, and the team drafted Theo Johnson from Penn State this year in the fourth round. Other players in contention this summer for a Giants tight end position include veterans Lawrence Cager, Chris Manhertz and former Philadelphia Eagle Jack Stoll.

New York had sent a third-round pick to Las Vegas hoping to make Waller a centerpiece of its passing attack, but the hamstring injury derailed a strong start to the season. After leaving the Jets game early, Waller missed the team's next five games, and over the final four games to end the 2023 campaign, he averaged just 42 yards with no touchdowns.

Injuries had also limited Waller to 20 games in the previous two seasons, the last of his five with the Raiders, who helped him become a dangerous weapon in 2019 and a Pro Bowl selection the following year. The Raiders initially acquired Waller from the practice squad of the Baltimore Ravens, who made the former Georgia Tech receiver a sixth-round pick in 2015.

By the time he was recruited, as Waller has revealed in the past, he was already addicted to opioids and had a history of using other heavy drugs as well. Violations of the NFL's drug policies earned Waller a four-game suspension in 2016 and then a ban for the entire 2017 season. An overdose of fentanyl-laced pills he took shortly before a NFL preseason game Ravens in 2017, Waller said, eventually led him to enroll in a drug treatment program, after which he was reinstated by the NFL before the 2018 season.

“In 31 years, I should have died at least four times… at least – but I’m still here,” Waller said Sunday. He said his recent personal journey has made him “view getting sober from drugs and alcohol as the tip of the iceberg.”

Waller, who has dabbled in music – and recently released a video for a song in which he appeared to discuss his split from Plum – said he was at peace with a scenario in which “my passions or the things that interest me. in the future, don't give me another penny.

“At this point,” he said, “it’s about becoming who I really am.”