Pittsburgh Steelers DL Stephon Tuitt retires from the NFL at age 29

Pittsburgh Steelers fans received some sad news today. Stephon Tuitt is electing to walk away from the game of football permanently. 

It’s been a hot topic all offseason for Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Was Stephon Tuitt going to return to the field after taking a full year off, or would he hang up his cleats for good?

For the first time since 2021, we finally heard from Tuitt himself, and his response was not what we were hoping for.

After much deliberation, Tuitt has elected to retire from football. This comes after coping with the tragic loss of his younger brother in a hit-and-run incident last summer. Here is the official statement Tuitt made to the organization:

In addition to the tragedy Tuitt suffered, he was also plagued with injuries throughout his eight-year NFL career. He appeared in sixteen games just once during this span as a rookie in 2014; however, Tuitt was given a week of rest in Week 17 of the 2020 season.

Steelers will miss Stephon Tuitt

What hurts the most is that Tuitt was playing the best football of his NFL career just before his retirement. In 2020, he recorded 45 tackles, 11.0 sacks, 10 tackles for a loss, and 23 quarterback hits in 15 games. He also was second behind only Aaron Donald in pressures among interior defensive linemen.

Tuitt had recently entered the prime of his NFL career, and many fans were expecting big things from him. Despite sitting out the entire 2021 season, PFF’s Ben Linsey still had him ranked as the 13th-best interior defender in the NFL ahead of the 2022 season.

Stephon Tuitt finishes his NFL career with 246 total tackles, 34.5 sacks, 48 tackles for a loss, and 94 quarterback hits in 91 games, via Pro Football Reference — each as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Tuitt was a former second-round pick out of Notre Dame from the 2014 NFL Draft, and many draft analysts believed he would have been a first-round pick if not for a foot injury he suffered prior to being drafted.

These retirement announcements are never easy — especially when a player like Stephon Tuitt appeared to have so much left in the tank. We congratulate him on earning his degree from Notre Dame and we wish him the best in whatever he decides to do in the future. He will be missed!