Former NFL tight end Darren Waller informed the New York Giants of his plans to retire in June of 2024 after what many assumed was a lengthy soul-searching exercise.
It wasn’t.
Waller recently revealed that his decision to retire came much sooner than anyone realized — just six games into his lone season with the Giants.
“I knew I was retiring when we played in Buffalo,” Waller said on The Side You Don’t See podcast. “It was a game where it was really controversial because one of the guys held me at the end, and they didn’t call it.
“It was in the first quarter of the game. We were running this counter lead running play, and I’m kind of like leading through the hole like I’m a fullback, and the play is working. But I sit down on the sideline after like a drive where we ran like three times and I’m like, what the f–k am I doing with my life? I’m out here playing fullback. I don’t even want to do this s–t anymore.”
It was a feeling Waller couldn’t shake. He stared at the moon while his teammates battled the Bills knowing he would soon step away from the game.
“I’m just looking at the moon — it’s early first quarter (or) second quarter — and nobody else would really even know I am thinking this but I’m on the sideline like, ‘Yep. I’m going to finish this year to the best of my ability but I am definitely done after this year.'”
The Giants blew a fourth-quarter lead and ultimately lost to the Bills, 14-9.
Waller hauled in five passes for 43 yards that night and would ultimately appear in 12 games, recording 52 receptions for 552 yards and one touchdown before calling it quits.
It was a tumultuous year for Waller, who was hospitalized with what he deemed a “near-death” experience and later divorced his wife, WNBA star Kelce Plum.
