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Citing the “sacrifice” of playing professional football lives on, Maurkice Pouncey, nine-time Pro Bowl center, announced his retirement from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday.
Pouncey and his twin brother Mike made their joint announcement via Maurkice Pouncey’s longtime teammate and friend Ramon Foster on Foster’s verified Twitter page. Foster, a guard, played alongside Pouncey for 10 seasons with the Steelers until his retirement was announced last March. Foster now co-hosts a radio show in his native Tennessee.
It is my honor that my brothers from another asked me to announce the next stage in their life. After more than a decade @MaurkicePouncey and Mike Pouncey retire from the @nfl 🤝. Below are their memos thanking those involved in their careers. #Steel #chargers #Miami #NFL pic.twitter.com/v9IALOrZaX
– Ramon Foster (@RamonFoster) February 12, 2021
Drafted in the first round in 2010, Pouncey has been named to the Pro Bowl roster every season he’s played more than a quarterback. Pouncey missed the entire 2015 season with a broken leg and two ligaments in his right knee were torn during a game at the start of the 2013 season.
Pouncey was AP All Pro’s first team in 2011, 2012, and 2014. He was All Pro’s second team in 2010 and 2018.
But since the age of 30 in 2019, Pouncey has missed six games in the past two seasons, the first time outside of the two major injuries he had missed with injury since 2012. The Steelers have finished. last season in the NFL in rushing yards, and their surprising loss in their playoff opener to the Cleveland Browns was facilitated in part by Pouncey who slammed the ball well over Ben Roethlisberger’s head during of the first game of the match.
After the game, Pouncey and Roethlisberger sat alone on the bench long after nearly everyone else from both teams had retired to their locker rooms. Roethlisberger in particular had tears in his eyes as he sat with Pouncey, one of his closest friends on the team.
“I love this guy (Pouncey),” Roethlisberger said later. “He’s one of the best competitors and teammates I’ve ever had. It was so much fun to share a soccer field with him.
Pouncey and Roethlisberger have sometimes said that they will retire together. In recent weeks, Steelers President Art Rooney II and Roethlisberger have both publicly stated that they want Roethlisberger to return for an 18e season at 39. But contract negotiations remain before that can happen.
Pouncey’s retirement leaves the Steelers with “dead money” of $ 6.48 million on their salary cap for 2021, according to Overhecap.com. Had he played that season, Pouncey owed a salary of $ 8 million. The Steelers can now take that money out of their 2021 cap, although they will likely supplement their inside offensive line with free agent signings and / or draft picks.
Pouncey’s replacement last season was JC Hassenauer, a former undrafted player whose most professional experience came in the now defunct Alliance of American Football in 2019. Hassenauer, who was a replacement throughout his tenure college in Alabama, started four games in 2020 – three in Pouncey’s place.
Pouncey’s retirement means the Steelers could have up to four new starters on their offensive line in 2021. Left guard Matt Feiler, left tackle Alejendro Villanueva and right tackle Zach Banner will be unrestricted free agents next month – although Banner is recovering from a torn ACL. suffered during the opening of the season.
“I will always love football (and) I will always be the ultimate competitor in life,” read a post via Foster. “I’m (just) not in love with the sacrifice football brings to my life, my beautiful daughters Jayda, Marley (and) my family.”
Born a minute later than Maurkice in Lakeland, Fla., Mike Pouncey played alongside his brother at the University of Florida and was a first-round pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2010. He played seven seasons for them. and the 2018-19 seasons for Los Angeles chargers. But Mike only played five games in 2019 due to a neck injury, and he didn’t play at all last season due to a hip injury.
In his retirement note, Maurkice Pouncey pledged to continue working for the TeamPouncey Foundation. Pouncey is an advocate for disadvantaged children and police issues.
Pouncey and Roethlisberger were the only remaining active players on the Steelers who were on the roster when they last made the Super Bowl in February 2011. Pouncey, however, did not play in that loss to the Green Bay Packers. due to an ankle injury. .
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Chris Adamski is an editor for Tribune-Review. You can contact Chris by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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