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After the Pittsburgh Steelers released kicker Shaun Suisham earlier today, the twelve year veteran officially announced his retirement from the NFL today.
Shaun Suisham has released a statement following his release by the @Steelers. #ClassAct pic.twitter.com/SVV57Pikki
— Bob Labriola (@BobLabriola) June 24, 2016
The retirement of Suisham means that his injury suffered during the first preseason game of 2015 was more serious than anyone expected. While it was immediately determined that his season was over, not many were pronouncing Suisham's career as being over.
Suisham spent five years as a kicker for the Steelers after bouncing around the NFL for the early portion of his career. In his time as a Steeler, he made over 87% of his field goals. In all but one season, he made over 90% of his field goal attempts and never missed an extra point.
Pittsburgh lucked out in finding Chris Boswell as their man of the future at the kicker position. It makes Suisham's unfortunate injury less of a burden on the roster, but it's still an unfortunate end to the NFL career of a consistent kicker.