While many improbable things occur throughout a championship run, the path that found Eric Weddle not only back in the NFL but now a Super Bowl champion is one for the history books. The safety retired at the end of the 2019 season but officially came out of retirement on Jan. 12 of this year to help the Los Angeles Rams during the playoffs following injuries in the secondary.
After a two-year absence, Weddle played throughout this postseason and even started in the NFC Championship against the 49ers where he led the team with nine total tackles. As he earned the first Super Bowl title of his career in Sunday’s 23-20 win over the Bengals, the 37-year-old was credited with five tackles, which is a strong note to officially end your career on again.
“Yes, I’m re-retiring,” Weddle said after the win, via NFL.com. “I’ll go back to my daily life. Pretty banged up right now, but hey, it’s well worth it. Well worth the moment.”
Weddle did get checked out on the sideline following a hit on Bengals running back Joe Mixon in the early portions of the game and noted to reporters postgame that he suffered a torn pectoral in the winning effort. He added that he will have surgery to repair it in the near future, but it didn’t seem to dampen the championship moment.
“I have a lot of time to recover. World champs, man,” he said.
Weddle was a second-round pick of the then-San Diego Chargers in 2007 and spent eight seasons with the franchise before spending three years with the Baltimore Ravens. He then joined the Rams for the 2019 season before his initial retirement. Over his career, Weddle made it to six Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team. Now, he can put an exclamation point to that decorated career with a Super Bowl ring as he fades off into the sunset once more.
KVSP