Veteran NFL linebacker Jerrell Freeman announced his retirement today. Freeman played his last two seasons with the Chicago Bears and his first four with the Indianapolis Colts. Freeman cited “health and family” as reasons for his retirement on his Twitter account.
Jerrell Freeman Signs With
Freeman only appeared in one game last season for the Bears. He suffered a concussion and a torn pectoral muscle in the opener against the Atlanta Falcons. He underwent surgery to repair the muscle and was placed on injured reserve.
Then, later in the season, he was suspended ten games for testing positive for performance enhancement drugs. It was an odd ordeal, in which he came out with a statement claiming that he was taking some type of pills to deal with concussion symptoms. He served eight of those games last season, but still had two to serve if he had signed with a new team this off-season.
In 2016, Freeman was on his way to having a great season. He recorded 110 total tackles, three sacks, and a pick-six. Still, he only appeared in 12 games, because of a separate PED suspension.
Freeman signed as a free agent from the Colts in 2016. Now, ready to move on from the unreliable linebacker, Chicago released him earlier in February.
An undrafted free agent out of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Freeman became a stud for the Colts in 2012. That year, he started all 16 games, racking up 145 tackles, two sacks, and an interception that he took to the house. In his four seasons as a Colt, he never had less than 95 tackles.
Freeman only appeared in 13 games over the past two seasons and had two strikes for PEDs, and self-admitted concussion issues. Regardless, he had been one of the top linebackers in the league when he was on the field.
