The New York Giants hoped they were getting a top tight end when they pried Darren Waller away from the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for a third-round pick in March of 2023.
Instead, they got a player who had lost his desire to play football at a professional level. Waller was going through a difficult period in his life. His recent marriage to WNBA star Kelsey Plum was not going well and a chronic hamstring issue had landed the former Pro Bowler on injured reserve (IR) after 12 weeks.
Now comes the revelation that the 31-year-old Waller was having second thoughts about his football career well before any of those issues manifested themselves.
“I knew I was retiring when we played in Buffalo,” Waller said on The Side You Don’t See podcast. “It was a game where it was really controversial because one of the guys held me at the end, and they didn’t call it.
“It was in the first quarter of the game. We were running this counter lead running play, and I’m kind of like leading through the hole like I’m a fullback, and the play is working. But I sit down on the sideline after like a drive where we ran like three times and I’m like, what the f–k am I doing with my life? I’m out here playing fullback. I don’t even want to do this s–t anymore.”
Waller officially retired the next spring. His marriage was over after just one year, and he had to concentrate on his overall health and well-being.
From NBC News:
Waller detailed a “very scary” medical situation last November while dealing with an injury suffered in a game a few days earlier. He said he was going home in New Jersey after shooting a music video when he began feeling ill and later started ”shaking like pretty violently” and couldn’t breathe. He said he called 911 and ended up hospitalized for 3 1/2 days.
“I go back into my daily life and I’m pretty clear I almost just lost my life and don’t know if I really feel like if I would have died that I would have felt great about how my life was going if I died at the time,” Waller said. “I’m doing something that I found a lot of joy in and have had amazing moments with, but the passion has slowly been fading.”
He said the experience “kind of forced me into a position to re-evaluate, you know, and I’ve made the decision that I’ll be retiring from the NFL.”
Waller, by retiring, left a bundle of money on the table (he was scheduled to make $10.5 million in both 2023 and 2024). The Giants were just grateful that he was improving and allowed him extra time to decide on his future.
“The first thing with Darren is my concern for him is more of a person than anything. I’m glad he’s doing well,” head coach Brian Daboll said last June at Giants minicamp. “Spoke to him yesterday. Communicated with him throughout the off-season. That’s his decision, we were going to respect the decision and give him as much time as he needed. Wish him well. Here for him if he needs anything. That’s what happens in the NFL sometimes.”
Waller is now concentrating on his health — mental, emotional, and physical. The Giants replaced him with Theo Johnson of Penn State in last year’s NFL draft. Johnson is very similar in both body type and style to Waller.
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