It’s not uncommon to hear about NFL players retiring when they’re 34, but you don’t hear about too many players deciding to retire when they’re 24. That’s the case for Washington Commanders receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden, who announced his retirement on Thursday.
The news was first announced by Commanders coach Ron Rivera, who told reporters at his press conference.
#Commanders coach Ron Rivera tells reporters TE Antonio Gandy-Golden is retiring from football and will return to school.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 28, 2022
The Commanders then made an official announcement on their social media channels.
We have placed TE Antonio Gandy-Golden on the Reserve/Retired List
Wishin' AGG all the best! 👏 pic.twitter.com/ZVQRbtmapw
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) July 28, 2022
The 24-year-old reportedly plans to return to school and earn his degree in graphic design.
Washington selected Gandy-Golden in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Liberty. In college, he led the Big South in receptions and receiving yards as a sophomore, becoming Liberty’s seventh 1,000-yard receiver in program history. As a junior, he broke the school record for receiving yards in a game (245), finishing his career as the only player in school history to post three connective thousand-yard receiving seasons.
However, in the two years that followed in the NFL, he never quite put it together on the field, garnering just one reception for three yards in 10 games played. A hamstring injury in his rookie season landed him on injured reserve in October of 2020 and he never quite got going after that, moving between the practice squad and active roster. While he was working on switching from wide receiver to tight end this offseason, it looks like that wasn’t enough to keep his NFL dreams going.
The news of the surprise retirement certainly garnered some reactions from the NFL world.
By the way Antonio Gandy-Golden is one of the smartest humans on this earth (like actual genius type stuff) so since he’s retiring and returning to college I can only assume it’s because he has decided to go cure cancer or something.
Good for him, I’m proud of him. https://t.co/CyTmoxDeM1
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) July 28, 2022
One of my bigger #NFLDraft misses https://t.co/NYrBEHwDde
— Chris Spooner (@SpoonfulofSport) July 28, 2022
Big fan of AGG on and off the field. He’s a solid dude and I’m excited for this next season of his. https://t.co/jrNYwa8FiH
— Isaac Apon (@IsaacApon_) July 28, 2022
Dang was hoping to see how he looked in preseason. https://t.co/VCwUmJjann
— Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) July 28, 2022
Oh wow. https://t.co/87PFEAvnQO
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) July 28, 2022
