Armond Armstead, who signed with the New England Patriots in February 2013, announces his retirement from football without having ever played an NFL game.
New England Patriots’ Armond Armstead has announced his retirement from football at just 23 years of age.
The defensive lineman’s dream of a career in the NFL comes to an unfortunate end before he had the chance to make a single appearance.
Armstead was not picked in the 2012 draft after suffering a heart attack in his final season at USC, before signing on with Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.
A stellar season in the CFL saw the Patriots pick him up in February 2013, but the rookie missed the entire campaign due to an infection that occurred after undergoing an operation, which was not related to his aforementioned heart attack.
“It has been a pleasure being around Armond, as he gave everything he could to play for us. Armond worked extremely hard since joining us in February,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick told NFL.com in a statement.
Although he will now never play a down in the NFL, Armstead enjoyed success in his time with the Argonauts by helping them to a Grey Cup championship in 2012.
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