A.J. Tarpley KANSAS CITY, MO – NOVEMBER 29: Alex Smith #11 of the Kansas City Chiefs is hit after sliding by Corey Graham #20 of the Buffalo Bills and teammate A.J. Tarpley #59 at Arrowhead Stadium during the third quarter of the game on November 29, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Former Stanford Cardinal and Buffalo Bills linebacker A.J. Tarpley has announced that he is retiring from the NFL after suffering multiple concussions. Tarpley is just 23 years old.

Tarpley made his announcement on Instagram, posting a photo showing himself on the ground, presumably after making an interception, to which he said, “The only thing comforting about not knowing this play would be the last of my career, is knowing that I never took a second for granted.”

He mentioned the third and fourth concussions of his short career being his motive for retiring to “preserve my future health.”

A photo posted by A.J. Tarpley (@ajtarpley) on Apr 6, 2016 at 5:21pm PDT

Tarpley thanked everyone that helped him in his path to the NFL, as well as the Buffalo Bills organization and fans:

I’d like to extend my gratitude to everyone that helped me along the way. Thank you to my coaches at Wayzata and Stanford, and to lifelong friends that I was blessed to call teammates. You all molded me into the man I am today.
To my family, I’ll never be able to repay your unwavering support and love, I just hope that I can continue to show how gracious I am and make you proud.

I also want to thank the Buffalo Bills organization, coaches, and teammates for helping me fulfill my lifelong dream in the NFL. Last but not least, I’m proud to be a part of #BillsMafia and playing in front of the best fans in the league is something I won’t forget.
Thank you God for all that you have blessed me 🙏. I’m excited for my future.

The retirement of Tarpley is just another in a string of early retirements from players since concussion research has advanced in recent times. Chris Borland was another example of a player retiring at a very early age, when he called it quits at age 24 in March of 2015.

There have been other NFL players to retire at a pretty early age such as Borland, like Glen Coffee, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers, although he did not cite his health as Borland did. You can say the same about former Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker, as well as former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Anthony Davis.

Of course more recently, we saw Patrick Willis and Calvin Johnson both retire at the age of 30, but that’s far more common than to see a player in their early 20s call it quits. That’s not to say that their health wasn’t a concern, though.

It’s hard to deny that brain research and the fear of CTE is lingering in the minds of some of these players with early retirements seemingly on the rise.

About Harry Lyles Jr.

Harry Lyles Jr. is an Atlanta-based writer, and a Georgia State University graduate.