Rishard Matthews has decided to give up on his NFL dreams, announcing his retirement from the league in a revealing message on Instagram. Matthews, who was released by the New Orleans Saints over the weekend after signing with the team in June, said the league has given him and his family "so much, but that no longer exists."
"Rishard Matthews the football player No Longer Exist and it's okay. In life regardless of the right or wrong decisions I've made. I've always moved forward with the understanding that regardless of what I'm going through someone is going through something a s--- ton worse than my bull----."
Matthews goes into detail his retirement speech in the post titled "No Longer Exist," a three-page explanation of how the game of football has changed for him.
Matthews, 29, was efficient in his last two seasons with the Tennessee Titans, catching 65 passes for 945 yards (14.5 yards per catch) and nine touchdowns in 2016, and 53 catches for 795 yards and four touchdowns (15.0 yards per catch) in 2017.
He had just five catches for 24 yards in his final NFL season with the Titans and the New York Jets. He asked for his release from the Titans in October due to lack of playing time. After his release from the Titans, Matthews sounded off on former Titans offensive coordinator and current Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, which may have influenced his love of football.
"[LaFleur] told me I had to earn my starting spot back and that wasn't going to happen anytime soon," Matthews said (via Allan Bell of PopCulture.com). "Then bounced after one year."
Matthews was released by the Saints after he reportedly chose to leave camp. The former seventh-round pick of the Miami Dolphins finished with 230 catches for 3,160 yards (13.7 yards per catch) and 21 touchdowns in seven seasons.
