PITTSBURGH – Twins Maurkice Pouncey and Mike Pouncey have retired from the NFL, Ramon Foster, Maurkice’s former teammate, announced on Twitter.
“It is an honor that my brothers from someone else have asked me to announce the next stage in their lives. After more than a decade, @MaurkicePouncey and Mike Pouncey are RETIRED from @nfl,” tweeted Foster.
It is an honor that my brothers from someone else have asked me to announce the next stage of their lives. After more than a decade @MaurkicePouncey and Mike Pouncey are WITHDRAWING @nfl 🤝. Below are your memos of thanks to those involved in their careers. #Steeler #chargers #Miami #NFL pic.twitter.com/v9IALOrZaX
– Ramon Foster (@RamonFoster) February 12, 2021
Maurkice was chosen 18th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2010 draft, while Mike was 15th overall for the Miami Dolphins the following year. The two were instantly full-time starters on their teams, mostly in the center, although Mike spent a season on the right guard in Miami.
“We started this journey at age 6 and now at 31 we are going to end this chapter of our lives by announcing my retirement from @nfl and quitting the game,” said Mike Pouncey in a statement provided by Foster.
While Maurkice played 11 seasons with the Steelers, Mike spent 10 seasons between the Dolphins and Chargers after his college careers in Florida. Mike’s last season ended in September, when he went to the injury reserve with hip surgery that ended the season. A year earlier, the four-time Pro Bowler season ended early with a neck injury sustained in early October.
Maurkice Pouncey and Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger are close friends and have often vowed to play as long as the other. Each has a contract that runs until the 2021 season, although Roethlisberger has not announced his intentions for the next season. With his retirement, Pouncey leaves behind $ 6.475 million in dead limit, but he saves the team $ 8 million in limit space.
The emotional moments that Maurkice Pouncey spent with Roethlisberger on the bench after the defeat of the Steelers in the January 10 playoffs ended up being his last in the NFL.
“I love that guy,” said Roethlisberger after the defeat at the end of the season. “He’s one of the best competitors and teammates I’ve ever had. It was a lot of fun to share a football field with him. I hate that it ended the way it did. I just wanted to apologize to him for it. Win it for him.”
Maurkice Pouncey, nine times Pro Bowler, had been telling teammates and people close to him that he had been seriously considering retirement since the wild card defeat, sources told ESPN.
“I will always love football and I will always be the biggest competitor in life @nfl @steelers! I am not in love with the sacrifice that football carries in my life, my beautiful daughters Jayda, Marley and my family!” Maurkice Pouncey said in a statement provided by Foster.
A fiercely loyal teammate, Maurkice Pouncey also lost two games in 2019 after being suspended for his participation in the fight with the Cleveland Browns while defending Mason Rudolph against Myles Garrett.
“You feel people,” said Foster, a former striker, a year ago. “You know if someone is not for you. His business is, if you are one of your teammates, he loves you and respects the devil.”
Pouncey’s departure creates a leadership vacuum in the Steelers’ attack. The All-Pro pivot, twice the starting lineup, was part of the group that made a fiery speech in the interval of the Steelers’ victory in Week 16 against the Indianapolis Colts, which helped in the second half recovery.
“As I write this farewell speech, I cry and laugh because the twin boys from Lakeland FL who grew up in poverty have come so far in life, both living the dreams of the NFL,” wrote Maurkice.