After eight seasons In the NFLAtlanta Falcons First Round Pick Keanu Neal is retiring.
Neal, who also played for the Dallas CowboysTampa Bay Buccaneers and Pittsburgh Steelers, announced his retirement with an Instagram post.
“God has blessed my family and I in so many ways,” he started his caption. “I started this trip 20 years ago. Today I withdraw from the NFL. The timing of God is always the right timing.”
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Atlanta Falcons Strong Safety Keanu Neal (Dale Zanine-usa Today Sports)
Neal thanked everyone during that trip he started 20 years ago.
“I want a big thanks to the Atlanta Falcons To prepare and give me a chance to make an impact. On the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Bucs and Pittsburgh Steelers .. Thank you for let me continue my career with you. All top organizations.
“I am incredibly grateful for the coaches and teammates with whom I had the privilege along the way. Did me help in who I am today.”
Neal did not play the 2024 season after the failure of a physical with the Steelers, the team with whom he played in 2023.
Neal was one of the top perspectives that the 2016 were on its way NFL Draft After a successful university career at the University of Florida, which led to the Falcons taking him 17th in general that year.
He made an immediate impact as Rookie, who defended 106 tackles, five forced junk and eight passes that defended 14 games.
Neal would follow it with his first and only Pro Bowl campaign, a total of a career-high 116 combined tackles with one interception, six defended, three forced junk and two messy recovery.
Pittsburgh Steelers Safety Keanu Neal (Charles Leclaire-usa Today Sports)
The injury stood in the way in 2018, when Neal tore his ACL in the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. Then Neal tore his Achilles in week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Falcons would exercise the fifth -year option for Neal, so 2020 was a contract year that came to his advantage. He had 100 tackles, nine for loss, with one interception.
But Neal eventually signed a Prove-IT contract the following season with the Cowboys, a one-year-old deal worth $ 5 million. He did this as a reunion with his old head coach, then Quinn, who was the defensive coordinator of the cowboys.
Neal eventually switched to Linebacker of safety with the cowboys and played 14 games with 72 tackles.
In 2022, Neal signed Deal for another year, this time with the BUCs with a $ 1,272 million deal to go back to strong safety. He had eight starts of his 17 games, placing 63 tackles, defended one interception and four passes.
Atlanta Falcons Security Keanu Neal (Dale Zanine-usa Today Sports)
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Eventually Neal came to the Steelers in 2023, but was placed on an injured reserve on November 18 and his season ended prematurely.
Before his career, Neal 523 had combined tackles, 2.5 bags, eight forced clutter and 22 passes.
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