In the category of "didn't he already do that?", a former Detroit Lions first-round pick officially announced his retirement from the NFL on Wednesday.
Tight end Eric Ebron, the 10th overall pick by the Lions in the 2014 NFL Draft, posted his retirement announcement on Instagram, with a collection of photos from his college career at North Carolina to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he played his final two NFL seasons.
"A career is a career!!" Ebron wrote. "I'm proud of me! Thankful for everyone along this journey."
Ebron played 56 games over four seasons with the Lions (2014-2017), with 186 receptions for 2,070 yards and 11 touchdowns. His best season as a Lion was in 2016, when he had 61 catches for 711 yards with one touchdown.
Taking a tight end so early was enough to draw ire from fans and analysts. But the Lions most notably passed on defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who became a superstar and a future Hall of Famer, to take Ebron 10th overall in the 2014 draft (Donald went to the Rams two picks later).
Lions first-round bust formally announces retirement
The Lions released Ebron in March of 2018. He signed with the Indianapolis Colts, and posted the best season of his career in his first year there (66 receptions for 750 yards and 13 touchdowns) as he earned his lone career Pro Bowl selection.
After one more season in Indianapolis, Ebron had another fairly productive campaign with the Steelers in 2020 (56 catches for 558 yards, five touchdowns). Then he played in just eight games with little production (12 catches for 84 yards, one touchdown) for the Steelers in 2021, before a season-ending injury.
Ebron has been out of the league for almost three whole seasons, so the writing was on that wall well before he (seemingly randomly) decided to make his retirement "officially official" on Wednesday. That being said, and though he clearly goes down as a draft bust in Lions' history, playing eight seasons in the NFL is nothing to sneeze at.