Former All-Pro running back Nick Chubb announced his retirement from the NFL on Friday after eight seasons in the league. The one-time All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler posted his retirement message on Instagram.
“Twelve-year-old me could never imagine this day, and 30-year-old me is wondering where all the time has gone,” Chubb wrote. “I’ve known for some time now, but I’m finally ready to share that I’m done playing football.
“I wanted to end my career on a healthy note, along with a winning season, and I was able to do that.”
Chubb played on a one-year deal with the Houston Texans last season, starting nine of 15 games and logging 506 rushing yards and three touchdowns while splitting carries with Woody Marks. The Texans went 12-5 and made the divisional round of the AFC playoffs.
Chubb finished his career with 7,349 rushing yards and 54 rushing touchdowns over eight seasons. He totaled the fifth-most rushing yards in the NFL since entering the league in 2018, and retired as third on the Browns’ career rushing list (6,843).
The Cedartown, Ga., native was one of the nation’s premier running backs while playing for the Georgia Bulldogs from 2014-17. He ran for 1,547 yards and 14 touchdowns as a freshman, winning SEC Freshman of the Year in 2014. By the time he entered the draft in 2018, he was a two-time All-SEC team selection.
Chubb was selected with the 35th pick by the Browns in the 2018 draft. He made an immediate impact, rushing for 996 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie.
He made the Pro Bowl each of the next four seasons (2019-22) as one of the NFL’s top rushers. Over that span, he averaged 1,336 yards and 10 touchdowns per season and was named second-team All-Pro in 2022. His 2022 (1,525 rushing yards) and 2019 seasons (1,494) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, on the Browns’ single-season rushing list behind three Jim Brown seasons.
The Browns had one winning season in that span — 11-5 in 2020 — when they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs.
In his retirement message, Chubb listed goals he had set for himself in his football career, including winning the Heisman, being an All-American and winning a national championship. In the NFL, he wanted to lead the league in rushing, win MVP and win a Super Bowl “for the city of Cleveland.”
“I wasn’t able to accomplish any of those things,” he wrote. “And what’s most frustrating, but also gives me peace, is that I know for a fact I gave it my all. I know I put myself in the right position to achieve all of those things. But it just didn’t happen for me.”
While at Georgia in 2015, Chubb suffered a severe dislocation and multiligament tear in the same left knee that caused him to miss most of his sophomore season.
On Sept. 18, 2023, Week 2 of the 2023 NFL season, Chubb took a brutal hit against the Pittsburgh Steelers and tore his left MCL, meniscus and medial capsule. He later underwent two surgeries, as his ACL needed repairing as well. He returned in Week 7 of the following season on Oct. 20, 2024, scoring against the Cincinnati Bengals in his first game in 398 days.
In Week 15 of that same season, Chubb suffered a broken foot against the Chiefs. He missed the team’s last three games, became an unrestricted free agent after the season, and signed with Houston.
“Dealing with injuries was something else that wasn’t part of the plan,” Chubb wrote. “The only thing I could control after hurting my knee twice was getting back up, getting back to work, and getting back on the field.”
Chubb closed his farewell message by thanking his teammates, coaches, fans, and family, and gave homage to the team he spent most of his career with.
“Till the day that I die, it will always be: GO DAWGS,” Chubb wrote. “GO BROWNS!!!”