British NFL star Jack Crawford has announced his retirement from American football after a 10-year career in the States.
The 33-year-old moved to the USA at the age of 16 in 2005 and represented Penn State University at college level before being drafted to the Oakland Raiders in 2012.
Stints with the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals followed for Crawford, although he did not feature at all last season due to a shoulder injury.
Crawford - who was born in London - now feels that the time is right to call it quits in the NFL, writing on Twitter: "After 10 seasons in the NFL, I know my time has come to step away from the game and close the chapter of my life in the league.
"At 16 years old I left my family and friends in the UK and moved to the US. I couldn't have imagined the journey that lay ahead of me, it flew by and I'm grateful for every minute.
"I want to thank all of the organizations that took a chance on me and all of the fans who supported me. I will never take for granted the memories of going to battle with my friends and teammates."
Thank you @NFL @NFLUK pic.twitter.com/6d4E4DQMYt
— Jack Crawford (@Sack_Religious) May 17, 2022
Injuries have bedevilled Crawford throughout his career, with the defensive end breaking his thumb during his time with the Cowboys and being placed on the Falcons' injured reserve list in 2017 due to a bicep issue.
Further elaborating on his retirement to BBC Sport, Crawford insisted that he wanted to leave on his own terms before he was forced into retirement due to his physical condition.
"It's been a rollercoaster, an unbelievable journey. As a player, I think you truly don't appreciate it till you're in this position and realise that this is it," Crawford added.
"Ending my career after a year of injury was especially hard but there's no easy way to call it a day. If you look at Tom Brady, after 20 years and another Super Bowl win [with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers], he still can't call it a day.
"I've been on a strict schedule for 14 years, if you count college, so now I'm closing that chapter. It's been tough but sometimes you have to let those things go and look forward to the future. I think it's important that I retire on my own terms and I retire from the game before the game retires me.
"From the moment I left London, I felt that returning here without anything to show for it, I'd feel like a failure because I hadn't achieved the dream.
"There was an added sense of pressure, coming from a different country to the US, so I look back with a sense of pride that I represented my country and my family at such a high level.
"I still want to be a voice as far as representing the UK in this game, to help the next generation come up and be a resource for players in the league now to reach out to, like Efe Obada, because there's something about the experience which is hard to put into words."
Crawford retires from NFL having played 109 games in his professional career, registering a total of 18 sacks - one of which came on Brady in 2015 - and 165 tackles.
Ben Knapton
