The long-time patriot center David Andrews spoke on a specially scheduled press conference on his resignation from the NFL on Monday and delivered a very clear explanation.
It has been known for a few weeks that Andrews (32) ended his career. He has now revealed why exactly he went this step even though he actually wanted to play a little longer.
“I didn’t want to do it for another organization,” said Andrews. “It wasn’t what I had imagined for the end of my career. I wanted to end it here and I did.”
The Patriots had previously released Andrews at the start of the Free Agency in March and ultimately brought the Garrett Bradbury released by the Minnesota Vikings. Later the former Georgia Center Jared Wilson followed in round 3 of the draft.
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Andrews won two super bowls
Andrews himself came to the Patriots in 2015 as Undrafted Free Agent from Georgia and was directly a rookie starter of the team as the successor to Bryan Stork, who won the Super Bowl with New England the year before, but then got health problems who thrown him back. Andrews, in turn, quickly earned the trust of quarterback legend Tom Brady, so that he remained the starter beyond 2015.
Andrews won the Super Bowls Li and Liii with the Patriots and was also one of the captains in his team in his last eight years. Last year he only played four games due to a shoulder injury, which ultimately also became the official reason for his release.
Andrews showed himself very emotionally on the podium in the Patriots building and also shed a few tears when he expressed his gratitude for his career. “As you can see, there are a lot of emotions,” he said. “The one that always caught my eye was the gratitude. If I look back on the 26 years in which I was lucky enough to play this game. It was really all I could think of. Especially as an O-Line player since I was six years old, you learn very quickly that it is not about you, but about the team. During my entire career I was surrounded by the best team that I could only wish for today. brought the victims and helped me. “
In addition to team owner Robert Kraft and his family, quarterback Drake Maye and Head Coach Mike Vrabel were also present at the press conference.