Giants tight end Darren Waller retires at age 31

According to Jordan Mendoza of USA Today on Tuesday, National Football League tight end Darren Waller of Landover, Maryland announced his retirement from professional football at age 31. Waller played eight seasons in the NFL. He was with the Baltimore Ravens in 2015 and 2016, the Oakland Raiders in 2018 and 2019, the Las Vegas Raiders from 2020 to 2022, and the New York Giants in 2023.

Waller only spent one season with the Giants. He was traded to New York on March 14, 2023 for a third round pick, 100th overall, in the 2023 National Football League Draft. Interestingly, the Raiders selected wide receiver Tre Tucker of Akron, Ohio out of the University of  Cincinnati, who had a respectable rookie season with Las Vegas. In 16 games, he had 19 catches for 331 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

In Waller’s final NFL season, he had 52 catches for 552 receiving yards and one touchdown. The major score came in a 14-7 Giants win over the Washington Commanders on October 22. Waller opened the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor of Hampton, Virginia 42 seconds into the second quarter.

In Waller’s career, he had 350 catches for 4124 receiving yards and 20 touchdown catches. Waller’s two most notable seasons came in 2019 and 2020 with the Raiders. In 2019, he had 90 catches for 1145 receiving yards and three touchdowns, and was third in voting for the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year Award (lost out to Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill of Lubbock, Texas). Then in 2020, Waller was selected to the Pro Bowl. He had 107 catches for 1196 receiving yards and nine touchdown catches.

Waller did face some adversity as a player in the NFL. During the 2017 season he was suspended a full year for violating the NFL substance abuse policy. According to Mendoza, at the time he battled drug addiction. Then this past year, he divorced WNBA star Kelsey Plum of Poway, California. Waller then made reference to the breakup in a music video he created.

At the collegiate level, Waller played at Georgia Tech. He was selected in the sixth round, 204th overall in the 2015 NFL Draft by the Ravens.