{"id":304689,"date":"2025-10-15T06:41:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T06:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/304689\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T06:41:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T06:41:13","slug":"charles-leno-jr-retires-from-nfl-two-years-after-wifes-miscarriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/304689\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Leno Jr. retires from NFL two years after wife&#8217;s miscarriage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ten-year NFL veteran Charles Leno Jr. retired on Tuesday, two years after he and his family suffered a heartbreaking tragedy. <\/p>\n<p>Leno, 34, announced his retirement in an emotional Instagram post on Tuesday, explaining that his wife, Jennifer, suffered a miscarriage on Oct. 14, 2023, which changed his entire perspective on life. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe lost our precious daughter, Paitynn \u2014 our fourth baby girl,\u201d the former Bears and Commanders left tackle wrote. That day changed everything for me. It changed the way I see life, the way I carry myself, and most of all, it changed what matters most to me.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"37384656\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-1702240526.jpg\" alt=\"Washington Commanders offensive tackle Charles Leno Jr. (72) sets up to block during the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Commanders on October 1, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field. \" class=\"wp-image-37384656\"  \/>Washington offensive tackle Charles Leno Jr. sets up to block during the Eagles\u2019 34-31 OT win over the Commanders on Oct. 1, 2023, at Lincoln Financial Field. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Leno said while he was extremely proud of his NFL accomplishments \u2014 including a 2018 Pro Bowl selection \u2014 the miscarriage fundamentally changed how he felt about playing football. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut on that October day in 2023, something in me shifted,\u201d Leno wrote. \u201cI knew then that I was done with football. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. My priority, my passion, my purpose had changed. My heart now belongs fully to my family. And I knew one day, when the time was right, I\u2019d make it official.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leno was a seventh-round selection by the Bears out of Boise State in 2014, playing the first seven years of his career in Chicago, starting in at least 16 games five times. <\/p>\n<p>He joined Washington before the 2021 season and played three seasons there, but suffered a calf injury at the end of 2023 and was released in March 2024. He did not sign with a team in either of the last two seasons. <\/p>\n<p>Leno thanked the support of his, teammates, coaches, agent and family before concluding with how important being a father is to him.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tmake every NFL game pay off\t\t<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"36699206\" width=\"158\" height=\"158\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/UnderdogLogo_Final_stacked-black.png\" alt=\"underdog fantasy logo\" class=\"wp-image-36699206\" style=\"width:158px;height:auto;aspect-ratio:1;display:block\"  \/> Underdog Fantasy<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/play.underdogfantasy.com\/p-new-york-post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">Underdog<\/a><\/strong> is where football fans become winners.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Easy player picks<\/li>\n<li>No season-long commitments<\/li>\n<li>Real prizes every single night<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Use promo code <strong>NYPOST5<\/strong> to get $50 in site credits when you play $5!<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\tMust be 18+ (19+ in AL, NE; 19+ in CO for some games, 21+ in AZ and MAZ) and present in a state where Underdog operates. Concerned with your play? Call 1-800-GABMLER or visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncpgambling.org\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.ncpgambling.org<\/a>. NY: Call the 24\/7 HOPEline at 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369). New York Post receives revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and when you make a purchase. The Underdog promo code might vary by location.\t\t<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"37384655\" width=\"734\" height=\"490\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-1860791229.jpg\" alt=\"Charles Leno Jr. #72 of the Washington Commanders walks off the field during a game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on December 17, 2023 in Inglewood, California.\" class=\"wp-image-37384655\" style=\"width:734px;height:auto;aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\"  \/>Washington offensive tackle Charles Leno Jr. walks off the field during the Rams\u2019 28-20 win over the Commanders at SoFi Stadium on Dec.17, 2023. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s nothing like the love of your daughters, nothing like the responsibility of raising them, protecting them, and being present for them,\u201d Leno wrote. \u201cThat\u2019s my purpose now. That\u2019s my legacy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t goodbye \u2014 it\u2019s just a new beginning. I love you, Paitynn. This one\u2019s for you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ten-year NFL veteran Charles Leno Jr. retired on Tuesday, two years after he and his family suffered a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":304690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[531,1232,62,67,132,68,534],"class_list":{"0":"post-304689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-chicago-bears","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us","14":"tag-washington-commanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115376821978081633","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/304690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}