Sidney Rice retires

Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Sidney Rice has announced his retirement. Rice, 27, is deciding to hang up his helmet after seven years in the National Football League. “After careful consideration and seven wonderful years playing in the National Football League, including the last three for the Seattle Seahawks, I have decided to retire from playing in the National Football League,” said Rice. Reportedly, Rice is retiring due to concussion concerns.
Rice, who has spent the last three years of his seven-year career as a Seahawk, was released earlier in the year as a cap casualty. However, he was re-signed by the Seahawks with a much smaller deal. Rice was a part of the wide receiver competition to see who would make the final roster along with fellow receivers Percy Harvin, Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, rookie Paul Richardson, Kevin Norwood, Phil Bates and Ricardo Lockette, among others. While Harvin, Baldwin and Richardson were practically guaranteed a roster spot, Rice was going to have to compete with the other receivers for a spot. Now that Rice has retired, Kearse is expected to make the roster as the third receiver on the team.
Rice was drafted in the second round, 44th overall, by the Minnesota Vikings in 2007 in the NFL’s first-year player draft. With Minnesota, he recorded 146 receptions with 2,129 yards and 18 touchdowns in four years. 2009 was his best season stat-wise, as he got career highs in receptions with 83, yards with 1,312 and touchdowns with eight. These numbers led to Rice being selected to the Pro Bowl that year. These numbers were a major reason as to why he signed a massive contract with the Seahawks in 2011. With the Seahawks, he played 31 of the 33 games he was in. 2012 was the first year he played all 16 games of a season. In that year, he recorded 50 receptions, 748 yards and seven touchdowns. His 2013 season was cut short when he sustained a knee injury in the October match against the St. Louis Rams.
While Rice missed a majority of the 2013-2014 Super Bowl campaign, he still did get to help the Seahawks win a few games by getting 15 receptions for 231 yards and three touchdowns. Over his career, Rice had 243 receptions, 3,592 yards and 30 touchdowns over his 81 games played.
The Seahawks are sad to see Rice go but understand and respect his decision. “I have enjoyed my experiences with all of my coaches, teammates and passionate Seahawks fans,” Rice said. “I take great pride in knowing I was one of the players signed to help build the foundation of the team that ultimately won the Super Bowl. I’ll be joining the 12s in support of the Seattle Seahawks as they take on the challenge to repeat. I appreciate all of the wonderful opportunities and look forward to establishing myself as a businessman. I will always be a Seahawk!”