Ex-Browns QB, draft pick retires from NFL after 12 seasons

Posted by Admin August 19, 2024 NFL

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Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy has retired from the NFL after 12 seasons, he announced Monday.

“Thank you football. Excited for the next chapter,” McCoy, 37, wrote in a post to X, accompanied by a 25-minute video detailing his football career.

“Football has been what I’ve done for 37 years,” McCoy said in the video. “Three years old, and I was the waterboy on my Dad’s football team. And I’ve been around the game every day ever since.”

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McCoy, a former collegiate standout and two-time Heisman Trophy finalist at the University of Texas, was drafted by the Browns in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He made eight starts as a rookie, completing 60.8% of his passes while throwing for 1,576 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions.

The following season in 2011, McCoy made 13 starts for the Browns, throwing for 2,733 yards, 14 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and finishing with a 4-9 record as starter. The Browns finished the season 4-12 overall and the following year drafted Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. McCoy played in three games during the 2012 season, completing nine of 17 passes for 79 yards and one touchdown, to mark the end of his time in Cleveland.

After three seasons with the Browns, McCoy played nine more NFL seasons, mostly as a respected veteran backup quarterback. He played one season for the San Francisco 49ers in 2013, five seasons with Washington from 2014-19, one season with the New York Giants in 2020, and his final two with the Arizona Cardinals from 2021-22.

McCoy finished his 12-year NFL career throwing for 7,975 yards, 34 touchdowns and 32 interceptions while completing 62.6% of his pass attempts in 56 games, including 36 as a starter.

Following his retirement, McCoy joins NBC Sports as an analyst for Big Ten football coverage, the network announced Monday. He previously called USFL games for NBC Sports in 2023.

“College football has always held a special place in my heart,” McCoy said in the news release. “With the expansion of the Big Ten and new era of college football, it is the perfect time to join NBC Sports.”