Former Stanford linebacker A.J. Tarpley, who announced his sudden retirement from the NFL due to concussion-related concerns last week, has written an essay published on MMQB about his difficult decision to walk away from the sport. It includes some interesting tidbits about his time with the Cardinal.
Tarpley writes that he suffered four concussions since high school, including one during the 2013 Pac-12 championship game while playing for Stanford against Arizona State. His account documents some frightening sequences during game action with intricate detail, and cites fear regarding future health of his brain as the impetus to call it quits.
"The next four plays are still a blur," Tarpley describes the aftermath of a concussion suffered last year. "I managed to find my correct alignment through the horse blinders, and I just played on instinct. I told myself to hit whatever comes my way and don’t stop moving my feet. We stopped them on all four downs. But I knew something was wrong with my head, and pulled myself out of the game after that series."
He says that professional players -- especially those on the bubble of making a roster -- face tremendous pressure to not miss any action.
"I thought about how many others had retired after multiple college concussions without ever getting to the NFL, and how I had no idea how many concussions I’d truly suffered because I was rarely honest about my symptoms," Tarpley writes. "Still, my main goal at the time was to remain on the field."
Tarpley was an undrafted free agent coming out of Stanford, where he was a four-year starter and considered one of the best Pac-12 linebackers in pass coverage. Tarpley worked his way into playing time with the Buffalo Bills, where he recorded interceptions in the final two games of last season. He says he conferred with some of his former Stanford teammates while making his decision, and his passion for the game of football made the retirement especially difficult.
"The hardest thing I've ever done was going up to Rex Ryan's office and telling the man who gave me a chance that I was done playing," Tarpley writes.
