Pro Bowl Linebacker and Super Bowl Champion Announces Retirement From NFL

By Brian Jones

A veteran NFL linebacker is calling it a career. K.J. Wright signed a one-day contract with the Seattle Seahawks so he could retire a member of the organization. He was a member of the team from 2011 to 2020 and played for the Las Vegas Raiders last year. Back in 2020, Wright talked about his time with the Seahawks knowing he could be with a new team the following season. 

"It's amazing," Wright said at the time. "I've accomplished way, way more than I thought I ever could. When I first came here, I just wanted to play football, but you start playing football, and all these different opportunities start opening up for you, so it's just been amazing. I've done everything I could for this city, and I plan to continue to do post-football. I just want to be great in the community, help people and be around football. It's meant everything. I believe I put together a Ring-of-Honor resume with my play, how I've helped in the community, and helped bring the team a Super Bowl. The legacy is pretty cool. I'm thankful for every play that I've played."

During his time with the Seahawks, Wright helped the team win the Super Bowl during the 2013 season. His best season was the 2016 campaign as he was named to the Pro Bowl after recording 126 tackles, four sacks and five passes defended. Before the 2021 season, Wright signed a one-year contract with the Raiders and tallied 51 tackles in 17 games with eight starts. In his 10 seasons with the Seahawks, Wright piled up 934 tackles, the third most in team history. 

"He's meant everything, not only to the team, the community—he does a lot of charity work, a lot of work in the community—but then he's a guy who shares his knowledge with all the guys," Wright's longtime teammate and All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner said in 2020. "Ten years of experience is a long time for somebody to have some knowledge, and he's a guy that offers that knowledge, and constantly has conversations with everybody, whether old guy, young guy, because he's a guy who truly wants to see everybody succeed and everybody provide for their family the best way possible."

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