As of March 9, former first round pick Rashard Mendenhall is a retired NFL player.
After a bad falling out in Pittsburgh, Mendenhall united with old offensive coordinator Bruce Arians in Arizona to try to revitalize his career. Mendenhall battled turf toe and lingering leg and knee injuries in his final year, but managed to still score 8 touchdowns despite the lack of yard production as he was unable to break a 100-yard game in his last year.
Mendenhall’s best years came in Pittsburgh where his career started off with a broken collarbone. He managed to bounce back his next two years with having 1,000 yard rushing seasons in both years and 20 touchdowns total.
His fourth year was respectable, but he started having a falling out with the Steelers and was benched the majority of his fifth year and was released, not really living up to his original expectations.
Although having a solid six year career, Mendenhall will be known for his blunders on and off the field. In Super Bowl XLV, he fumbled the football at the start of the fourth quarter when the Steelers were driving down the field to take the lead. Another head-scratcher was his post he tweeted about his thoughts on the death of Osama bin-Laden which was met with backlash and controversy.
Mendenhall’s career totals were 1,081 carries for 4,236 yards and 37 touchdowns to go along with being a Super Bowl XLIII champion.
At age 26, Mendenhall decided it was time to hang up his cleets and start a new chapter in his life. He wants to pursue a writing career, and was writing columns for the Phoenix newspaper last year. Best of luck to Mr. Mendenall and his future endeavors.