Richie Incognito has officially announced his retirement from the NFL.
The Las Vegas Raiders took to Twitter with a farewell message on behalf of the four-time Pro-Bowl offensive lineman on Friday.
“I came back. I set my mission. I accomplished my goal,” Incognito in a statement.
Since I played my first snap at 12 years old, nothing in my life was more important than football. The game always came first.
Football has taught me a strong work ethic, a willing to get better every day and a desire to continue growing. It has taught me that while what you get is important, who you become is more important.
All of these lessons I’ll take with me into the next chapter. Because today, I’m officially retiring from the NFL.
The NFL world took to Twitter to react to this news.
“Man was in the league for 14 years and played a total of 14 games as a Raider,” one fan said.
“Good riddance, one less racist and bully in the league,” another added.
“‘Accomplished my goal’ almost driving a teammate to suicide, being a insane bully, injuring dozens of players and being a menace to workers in general feels like a bad goal in life,” another said.
Though Incognito had stretches of great play on the field — including three straight Pro-Bowl selections with the Buffalo Bills (2015-17) — he’s widely known by the outside viewer for his checkered past off the field.
The physically-imposing lineman missed the entire 2014 season after he was suspended for eight games due to his central role in a bullying scandal for the Miami Dolphins in 2013.
Incognito stepped away from football in 2018, but decided to return for another run. He joined the Raiders organization in 2019 and suited up for 12 starts in his first season. Since then, he’s played in just two games due to nagging injury issues.
“After stepping away from football in 2018, I knew if I came back, it would be to finish out my career on my terms,” he added. “It also had to be with the right team, which I found in the Raiders. There’s always hesitancy in coming back when you’ve been out of the game, but after a tryout with the Raiders, I immediately knew it was the place for me. It made me hungry to come back.”
Incognito finishes his NFL career with 164 appearances and 164 starts with four different franchises.