Like a shooting star, former Los Angeles Rams running star Todd Gurley burned hot and fast, enjoying a meteoric rise followed by a steep decline. Derailed by injuries and ineffectiveness, Gurley’s once-promising career went up in smoke, going from NFL Offensive Player of the Year to out of the league in record time. Gurley doesn’t seem particularly eager to resume his career, telling NBC LX that, for all his success, there’s not much the 27-year-old misses about playing football.
“There was never not one time where I watched a game [last season] and was like, ‘I wish I was out there,’” said Gurley, who last played for the Atlanta Falcons in 2020. “I appreciated my time in the league and I've done things I could have never even dreamed about."
Drafted with the 10th overall pick in 2015, Gurley twice led the league in rushing touchdowns and was selected to three Pro Bowls over his six NFL seasons, five of them spent as a Los Angeles/St. Louis Ram. Seeing the Rams win a Super Bowl without him had to have been bittersweet, though Gurley wishes his former teammates nothing but the best.
“You always get excited for the guys,” said Gurley, who, along with Marshawn Lynch and former WNBA All-Star Renee Montgomery, serves as part-owner of the FCF Beasts, an indoor football team that began play in 2021. “Everyone would love a ring. But at the end of the day, it's about being able to congratulate and then see other guys succeed and being happy for them."
Relative to other positions, running backs have an unusually short shelf life, rarely playing past 30. Gurley, who tore his ACL in college and battled arthritis throughout his career, hasn’t filed his retirement paperwork, but that’s just a formality at this point. “I ain't worried about football,” insists Gurley. “I'm chilling and enjoying myself."
Gurley totaled 8,336 yards from scrimmage (6,082 rushing, 2,254 receiving) with 79 touchdowns over 88 NFL appearances. The University of Georgia alum banked over $49 million in that span.
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