Steve Smith is calling it a career.
The Baltimore Ravens wide receiver announced Monday that the 2015 NFL season would be his last.
The 36-year-old signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract with the Ravens before the 2014 season after being cut by the Carolina Panthers. Smith had spent 13 seasons with the Panthers and is the team’s all-time leader with 836 receptions, 12,197 receiving yards and 67 touchdowns.
Smith is one of just two players in NFL history to amass 13,000 receiving yards and 4,000 return yards in his career. The other is Tim Brown, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
The wideout was the Ravens’ No. 1 target in 2014, and he ended the year with 79 receptions, 1,065 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Smith said he probably still has a few more years left in him, but he’d rather go out while he still has his health and can maximize the time he can spend with his family.
“I don’t want to hold on,” Smith said, per ESPN.com. “Jerry Rice is the best wide receiver to ever play. But I don’t believe that chasing whatever it is to chase for four more years would be conducive to my family or be conducive to me. I would be having to give up something. I would be jeopardizing something. I don’t know what that it is, and I don’t have any intentions of finding out.”
Thumbnail photo via Evan Habeeb/USA TODAY Sports Images
