Former Kansas City Chiefs draft pick retires from NFL after successful nine-year career

These days in the NFL, players are retiring earlier than they used to back in the day. With new health concerns, technology, and the money being much better, it makes too much sense for some guys not to retire. The Kansas City Chiefs have a former player who has chosen to do so as well.

On Sunday, we heard former Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller announce his retirement. Now, it seems to be a guy the Chiefs drafted in 2015 in the third round.

According to Aaron Wilson of KCPR2, the former Chiefs, Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles, and Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Steven Nelson is choosing to retire after a pretty good nine-year NFL career.

“Retirement, after thinking it over and having some talks with my family, I think it’s time for me to take a step back and spend more time with my family,” Nelson said in a telephone interview with Wilson. “We’re expecting a newborn this coming month and I wanted to devote all of my time and energy to that and various business ventures off the field. I’m extremely proud of what I was able to do in the game of football.

“Coming from a small town without a lot of resources, having to go to junior college, making it out of there to go to Oregon State, which was across the country from my family, going through a lot of trials and tribulations to get to where I am today and to be able to persevere and make it this far. I’m extremely proud of my legacy and my career.”

Nelson was drafted by the Chiefs in 2015 in the third round. In four seasons, he played in 52 games, started in 38, and had four interceptions with 35 passes defended. Nelson also finished with 456 tackles in his career.

Nelson was considered a very highly sought-after free agent this offseason, as Wilson also reported that several teams were interested in him. But, he has instead decided to hang it up. Nelson had a pretty good nine-year career.