Former Vikings offensive lineman announces his retirement

His time with the Minnesota Vikings did not last long, but offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz officially announced his retirement from the league on Tuesday.

Despite the fact that he is only 30-years-old and could still play a few more seasons of football, former Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz announced on Tuesday that his time in the NFL has come to an end. Schwartz revealed his decision to retire from the league in an article he wrote for SB Nation.

"“I always told myself I’d play as long as someone wanted me or until I didn’t love the process anymore. Well, both of those happened, almost at the same time.”– Geoff Schwartz, former Vikings offensive lineman"

He attributed the majority of his decision to retire to the injuries he sustained during his career and what they did to both his own motivation to play and how teams around the NFL viewed him as a risk to sign.

"“After my leg broke for the second time in 2015, I figured the (New York) Giants would restructure my contract again for the 2016 season, same as they did the year before. When I started the rehab process after that surgery, my motivation just wasn’t the same. This was my second straight offseason of rehab and I was fed up with the process.In the end, the risk of injury wasn’t worth it for teams. I knew about three or four weeks into the (2016) season, I wasn’t getting picked up. Time to move on.”– Schwartz"

Some may not remember his time in Minnesota since it was so quick. Schwartz was a part of the 2012 Vikings, but was never able to crack the team’s starting lineup that season.

When he signed with Minnesota back in 2012, he described his decision to join the team as something that, “just felt right.”

But after a few months in the Twin Cities, Schwartz’ time with the Vikings was not going as well as he hoped. During an interview with Sports Illustrated’s MMQB back in 2014, the offensive lineman said that he, “just didn’t like it in Minnesota.”

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Following his one season with the Vikings, Schwartz had stints with the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants, and Detroit Lions from 2013 to 2016.