New Orleans Saints center Max Unger shocked fans and observers around the NFL with his recent retirement announcement, but the Saints were not caught by surprise. Unger explained in a press conference with local media that he’d made his plans known to New Orleans well ahead of free agency. He’d realized this was the move about a month ago, and wanted to make sure the Saints went into the signing period knowing they’d be without him.
Age and injuries decided Unger’s path forwards, but it took him some time to come to grips with retiring: “I wasn’t sure,” Unger replied, when asked whether he had known the 2018 NFC championship game was his last NFL appearance after the final whistle. “Did I think in my head it might be [the end]? Absolutely. Obviously that’s not the way you want to go out. At the end of the day, your health is the priority. If it was the last game, obviously that sucks. But at the end of the day you look back at your career and think about more than that one game.”
