SmashMouth

Max Unger, the anchor in the middle of the New Orleans Saints offensive line the past four years, chose to prioritize his health when he decided to retire from this NFL, a surprising move that became official Saturday (March 16).

“At the end of the day, I guess I’m retiring because I didn’t think I could make it through another season,” Unger said Monday (March 18) on a teleconference.



Unger, 32, said he’s been dealing with lower-body ailments that have been detrimental to his performance, though he wouldn’t detail the injuries. He said one doctor recommended a surgery that could have helped him return in 2019, but Unger didn’t want to spend the offseason recovering and missing valuable practice time like he did in 2017 while rehabbing from foot surgery.

“To do that going into year 11, I didn’t think was going to work out well,” he said.

Instead, Unger is retiring after a stellar 10-year career with the Saints and Seattle Seahawks that included 130 starts, one Super Bowl victory, three trips to the Pro Bowl and one first-team All-Pro honor.

Unger also retires as the center who started the most games (61) with Drew Brees, and Unger said it’s been “amazing” to work with the Saints quarterback the past four seasons.

“That was obviously a hard call,” Unger said of the phone call when he informed Brees of his decision.

Unger said he’d been thinking about retiring since the season ended in January after the Saints lost in the NFC Championship Game. He finally made the decision within the past month, and he informed the Saints of his plans, which helped them prepare for free agency knowing they would need help at center.

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