Eric Weddle ended his NFL career in storybook fashion.
After coming out of retirement last month, the former Ravens safety played a key role during the Rams' postseason run that ended with their 23-20 victory in Super Bowl LVI.
Weddle told reporters that he suffered a torn pec during the second quarter, but he kept playing, finishing with five tackles and helping the Rams shut out the Bengals' in the decisive fourth quarter. This time, Weddle says he's retiring for good.
"Yes, I'm re-retiring," Weddle said via Kevin Patra of NFL Network. "I'll go back to my daily life. Pretty banged up right now, but hey, it's well worth it. Well worth the moment. I have a lot of time to recover."
After nine seasons with the Chargers, the 37-year-old Weddle spent three seasons with the Ravens (2016-18) and was a favorite with coaches, teammates and fans as a defensive leader. Weddle had 10 interceptions in his first two seasons in Baltimore and went to the Pro Bowl all three years. His enthusiasm for football was contagious and knowledge of the game helped the development of younger players in the secondary like Chuck Clark and DeShon Elliott.
After being released in 2018, Weddle spent the 2019 season with the Rams before announcing his retirement.
However, when the Rams suffered injuries in the secondary late in the season, Head Coach Sean McVay approached Weddle last month about returning. Instead of playing a small role, Weddle moved into the starting lineup for the playoff run and called the defensive signals from the secondary in the Super Bowl. In the AFC Championship game against San Francisco, Weddle led the Rams with nine tackles.
"Certain things had to happen for me to be in this moment, and to finish it off the way we did is just something you hear out of a book, or a story – a fiction fairy tale you only wish that your name would be a part of," Weddle said via Brandon Judd of the Deseret News. "Lucky me, it's about me, and I'm world champ now."
The Ravens weren’t surprised that Weddle made a successful comeback and his former teammates congratulated him on going out on top.
