Steve Smith’s Emotional On-Field Retirement Was A Fitting End To His Ferocious Career

After 16 years and what should be a Hall of Fame career, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith announced his retirement Sunday. The official decision comes one year after he intended to retire, because he didn’t want to hang up his cleats following a season-ending Achilles injury in 2015.

He was met on the field after the Ravens lost to the Bengals 20-10 in Cincinnati and was clearly fighting back emotion just seconds after his final game.

“A legacy is not what you give people; it’s what you put inside people and also what they put inside of me. There’s a lot of guys I respect. I’m gonna miss them. But at some point, it comes to an end. I’ve got a beautiful wife at home, Angie, and four kids that need their dad and I need my kids. So I’m going home to Charlotte to be with my family.”

Are Smith’s numbers good enough for Canton? He retires with the seventh-most receiving yards (14,731) and 12th-most receptions (1,031). He’s also seventh in all-purpose yards (19,146), as he spent a good part of his career returning punts as well. Smith never won a Super Bowl, but he was outstanding in his 11 postseason contests, amassing 1,001 yards and nine touchdowns on 59 receptions.

If enshrinement was based on entertainment value off the field and between the whistles, they’d be making Smith’s bust already. He never held back in postgame interviews and delivered thoughts in unique ways on things like domestic battery in an elevator and his stamina levels while sick. Then there was, “Ice Up, Son,” and the time he showed he was just as willing to trash talk an opponent as well as Santa Claus.

Hopefully, Smith will find contentment in retirement, perhaps delivering honest quotes about the poor quality of bagels in his local Panera and trash talking neighbors lawns while he sits on his porch.

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