San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
‘It’s time’: Staley retires
Longtime tackle makes it official after dealing with injuries for past few years
Left tackle Joe Staley, one of the greatest offensive linemen in 49ers franchise history, retired from the NFL on Saturday after a 13season career that included six Pro Bowls and a slew of injuries that led to his exit.
Staley, 35, cited health reasons for his retirement, which he announced on social media with
“very mixed emotions.” Last year, Staley missed a careerhigh nine games with a broken fibula and a broken finger that required surgery. He’s also dealt with a chronic knee issue and sustained multiple concussions, and he referenced a neck injury in his announcement, in which he said, “My body is telling me it’s time.”
Last season “was by far the most difficult on me and my family,” said Staley, who broke his leg in 2010 and suffered a fractured eye socket in 2017. “My body was breaking down with a variety of injuries and a deteriorating neck condition, and the constant discomfort affected every part of my life.”
Staley is married with two young daughters, Grace and Audrey. He and his wife, Carrie, whom he termed his “calm and loving support,” married in 2014.
“They are my world,” Staley said of his daughters. “To choose to play another season when my body says it’s done, and risk my future with them and ability to be the father I want to be, would be selfish and reckless. I want my daughters to know that I always choose them, no matter what.”
The 49ers have found Staley’s replacement. On Saturday, shortly before Staley’s announcement, they traded a fifthround pick and a 2021 thirdround pick to Washington for Trent Williams, 31, a seventime Pro Bowl left tackle.
Staley, who said he’d been considered retirement since the end of the season, told head coach Kyle Shanahan he was retiring a few days before the draft, allowing the 49ers to plan accordingly. Their phone call came after general manager John Lynch reached out early last week to Staley’s agent, Ryan
Tollner, who told Lynch his client was struggling with his decision.
“We’ll have our parade (for him) just as soon as we can and the quarantine is over because he deserves it more than anything,” said Shanahan, whose background on a Zoom call with reporters was a picture of Staley. “I was with Joe three years and (he was) as good of a player and warrior and person as any player I’ve been around. I love the guy.”
On Saturday, AllPro tight end George Kittle posted a threeminute socialmedia message to Staley in which Kittle’s eyes brimmed with tears and his voice cracked for much of the final minute. Kittle, 26, thanked Staley for his mentorship, friendship and karaoke singing. He recalled Staley speaking to him after one of his first practices with the 49ers in 2017.
“You said, ‘You know what you might actually turn out to be a good football player as long as
you don’t screw up and (you) keep your head on straight,’ ” Kittle said. “So I hope I abided by that.”
Staley was recently named to the NFL’s AllDecade Team for the 2010s. He ranks fifth in franchise history in regularseason games played (181) and was a fivetime finalist for the NFL’s Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award.
Last year, in his return from his broken fibula, Staley played poorly in a loss to the Seahawks in November, a game in which he suffered his broken finger. In January, in an interview with The Chronicle, he acknowledged he heard talk after the game that he should be replaced.
“I think people forgot what I’ve done for this franchise and what kind of player I am,” Staley said. “That motivated me a lot, though. I felt almost disrespected. … It was pinned on me as being the reason (we lost) because I’m washed up. I’m not.”
Staley ended his career in Pro Bowl form. In 17point playoff wins to reach Super Bowl LIV, he helped paved the way
for an offense that averaged 235.5 rushing yards and 5.3 yards a carry.
His final game was painful. After the 49ers’ loss to the Chiefs, Staley’s second heartbreaking Super Bowl defeat, he was curt with reporters before apologizing.
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Staley said. “This is super disappointing. This is very hard, being in this moment right now. You put your heart and soul and your whole entire life into trying to be a Super Bowl champion. And you get toward the end of your career and you realize how rare these opportunities are.”
On Saturday, Staley said he “hoped to be present” with the 49ers in retirement.
“We’ll have Joe anywhere he wants to be,” Shanahan said. “Whatever Joe wants to do in his life. Whether it’s professional karaoke singer or professional dad … he’s going to be all right. I hope he’s part of us.”