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Puka Nacua is one of the brightest young stars in the NFL right now, putting together back-to-back standout seasons in his first two years as a pro. He has the makings of a perennial Pro Bowler if he can stay healthy, but Rams fans better enjoy watching him put up big numbers on Sundays while they can because he doesn’t plan to have an overly long career.
Nacua, who turns 24 in May, already knows when he wants to retire from football. During an interview on the “Join The Lobby” podcast, Nacua revealed he wants to call it a career at the age of 30. That would give him six or seven more years in the NFL before hanging up his cleats.
By no means is that a short career, but it’s also not as long as you’d expect someone of Nacua’s caliber to play. His reason for wanting a shorter career is sound, though. After seeing Aaron Donald go out on top with a relatively clean bill of health, Nacua wants the same.
“I know I want to retire at the age of 30,” he said flatly. “I'm 23 right now, I'm going into Year 3 – it wouldn’t even be 10 years. It’d be maybe seven or eight. I think of Aaron Donald, to go out at the top, I think it would be super cool. But also, I want to have a big family. I want to have at least a starting five. I came from a big family so I need five boys, for sure. But also, like, I want to be able to be a part of their lives and be as active as I can with them. The injuries are something you can’t control (as) part of the game, so you never know. Hopefully, the rest of the career can go healthy, but you have shoulder surgery, you have knee surgery, you have ankle. By the time my kids could be 18, I could be barely walking if you play the game and sustain all the injuries and stuff like that, but I want to retire early.”
While the wide receiver position is dominated by players under the age of 30, there are still plenty of productive wideouts who have sustained success after their 20s. Davante Adams, Nacua’s new teammate, just had 1,063 yards in 14 games as a 31-year-old last season. Mike Evans, Calvin Ridley, Tyreek Hill, Keenan Allen and Cooper Kupp are all over 30 and they remain productive pass catchers entering the 2025 season, too. The same goes for tight end George Kittle, who has shown no signs of slowing down at the age of 31.
Nacua plans to follow in the footsteps of Donald, Calvin Johnson, Andrew Luck, Luke Keuchly and others as players who retire relatively early before their bodies wear down too much. He plays with a level of reckless abandon by lowering his shoulder into defenders, laying out for catches on the sideline and making tough grabs in traffic over the middle, so it’s understandable that he may not want to play into his 30s.
For now, he remains one of the best players in the NFL and health permitting, it’s hard to see that changing anytime soon.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams WR Puka Nacua wants to 'retire early' and here's why
Continue reading...
Nacua, who turns 24 in May, already knows when he wants to retire from football. During an interview on the “Join The Lobby” podcast, Nacua revealed he wants to call it a career at the age of 30. That would give him six or seven more years in the NFL before hanging up his cleats.
By no means is that a short career, but it’s also not as long as you’d expect someone of Nacua’s caliber to play. His reason for wanting a shorter career is sound, though. After seeing Aaron Donald go out on top with a relatively clean bill of health, Nacua wants the same.
“I know I want to retire at the age of 30,” he said flatly. “I'm 23 right now, I'm going into Year 3 – it wouldn’t even be 10 years. It’d be maybe seven or eight. I think of Aaron Donald, to go out at the top, I think it would be super cool. But also, I want to have a big family. I want to have at least a starting five. I came from a big family so I need five boys, for sure. But also, like, I want to be able to be a part of their lives and be as active as I can with them. The injuries are something you can’t control (as) part of the game, so you never know. Hopefully, the rest of the career can go healthy, but you have shoulder surgery, you have knee surgery, you have ankle. By the time my kids could be 18, I could be barely walking if you play the game and sustain all the injuries and stuff like that, but I want to retire early.”
While the wide receiver position is dominated by players under the age of 30, there are still plenty of productive wideouts who have sustained success after their 20s. Davante Adams, Nacua’s new teammate, just had 1,063 yards in 14 games as a 31-year-old last season. Mike Evans, Calvin Ridley, Tyreek Hill, Keenan Allen and Cooper Kupp are all over 30 and they remain productive pass catchers entering the 2025 season, too. The same goes for tight end George Kittle, who has shown no signs of slowing down at the age of 31.
Nacua plans to follow in the footsteps of Donald, Calvin Johnson, Andrew Luck, Luke Keuchly and others as players who retire relatively early before their bodies wear down too much. He plays with a level of reckless abandon by lowering his shoulder into defenders, laying out for catches on the sideline and making tough grabs in traffic over the middle, so it’s understandable that he may not want to play into his 30s.
For now, he remains one of the best players in the NFL and health permitting, it’s hard to see that changing anytime soon.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams WR Puka Nacua wants to 'retire early' and here's why
Continue reading...
