FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Former New England Patriots security guard Patrick Chung, who intended to play this season after dropping out of the 2020 NFL campaign, reversed the course and announced his retirement on Thursday.
Chung, 33, said on Instagram that “it’s time to start a new life”.
This would have been Chung’s 12th season in the NFL and his 11th with the Patriots. He played in 153 games in the regular season (122 games), in addition to 23 games in the playoffs (20 games).
Originally joining the team as a runoff choice in 2009 for the University of Oregon, Chung was part of three Super Bowl championship teams in New England. He had spent a season with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013, but returned the following season and said the only coach he planned to play for was Bill Belichick.
In his Instagram post, Chung said he was announcing his retirement in tears, thanking Belichick for “teaching me life on and off the field”.
Chung, whose toughness, versatility and work ethic has often been noted by Belichick, is the only player in NFL history to appear in the playoffs in each of his first 11 seasons. He was selected as a member of the Patriots’ 2010s All-Decade Team.
Chung chose to leave the 2020 season for family considerations, telling CBS in an interview: “It was a tough decision. You want to play football. I’m at the end of my career, but at the end of the day, I feel that money is not so I have a girlfriend who is pregnant, a girl soon, my son has a bit of asthma, my father is 75. I thought that was the best decision for my family to keep everyone safe. . “
In that sense, Chung had recently been training at Gillette Stadium, which indicates his plans to play again in 2021. But things have obviously changed in recent weeks.
The Patriots are safe, with the return of titleholders Devin McCourty and Adrian Phillips, and the top pick of the 2020 draft Kyle Dugger returning. They also struck a four-year, $ 24 million deal with defensive defender Jalen Mills, who moved from cornerback to safety last season with the Eagles.