John Moffitt: Ex-Bronco, ex-Seahawk, ex-NFL . . . and no regrets [View all]

[underpants]

Guard John Moffitt, traded by Seattle to Denver in August, retired in November at 27. 'I was just sick of playing football,' he says now.

Less than three months ago, Moffitt stunned the 7-1 Broncos by returning home to the Seattle area during his week off and deciding to walk away from his NFL career. The Seahawks had traded him to Denver in August, after he had played his first two seasons with Seattle.


"I was just sick of playing football," said Moffitt, 27, sitting on the couch in a modest home he rents about a mile south of Seahawks headquarters. "I felt I'd played a lot and had gotten to the point where it wasn't necessarily paying off, and it wasn't something I was enjoying anymore. I was really unhappy with the whole lifestyle."



But the potential for more injuries isn't the only reason why Moffitt quit the game. He soured on the NFL ethos — "taught thought" he calls it — which he sees as a big corporate money grab that uses players as pawns. It bothers him that society puts professional athletes on pedestals.

"It freaks me out sometimes when you have grown men that you look up to act completely different around you now because you're in the NFL," he said. "That should not happen. NFL players are young men who have a lot of money; they don't deserve that much credit simply on that basis.


http://www.latimes.com/sports/football/nfl/la-sp-john-moffitt-broncos-20140127,0,176044.column#ixzz2sC6sdQAi