Ex-Super Bowl champion defender announces retirement from NFL

Another veteran NFL player has taken off his cleats for the final time.

Longtime cornerback Ronald Darby has informed the Houston Texans that he intends to retire, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported on Monday. Darby is calling it a career at the age of 31 after 10 NFL seasons played.

A former second-round pick in 2015 (No. 50 overall), Darby enjoyed a productive career playing for six different NFL teams — the Buffalo Bills, the Philadelphia Eagles, the then-Washington Football Team, the Denver Broncos, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens. Of those teams, Darby had his best run with the Eagles as he started on the team that won Super Bowl LII during the 2017 season.

Ultimately, though, it appears that Darby’s career was subsequently derailed by injuries. He suffered a torn ACL while with the Eagles in 2018 and then a second torn ACL while with the Broncos in 2022. Last season for the Jaguars, Darby looked largely like a shell of himself, making 12 total appearances as a starter before eventually being benched late in the season for Montaric Brown.

Darby was released by the Jaguars in March but was able to land a deal with the Texans later that month. He has now decided to reverse course, though, and will be retiring several months before the start of the 2025 NFL season.

Ultimately, though, Darby still managed to have a decent NFL career, especially considering how far he came from his rookie year. Darby now becomes the second veteran player to announce his retirement this week (after the four-time Pro Bowler who did so earlier in the day on Monday).