Stephon Tuitt

 

Last year around training camp for the season Stephon Tuitt’s brother was the victim of a hit and run and lost his life. Stephon was obviously and understandably devastated. There was little to no information from the team or Tuitt about his plans for the season. There was a lot of speculation that he’d be back, but he never did return. There were also a lot of rumors about a knee injury and from listening to DK Pittsburgh Sports he had to have fluid drained from the knee regularly. But, again, there was no concrete source as to whether he was injured or just the fact that he couldn’t mentally because of his loss. Then came the current season. The Steelers were last in rushing defense and having Tuitt back would be a big step in improving that number. Last week, though, we found out that he had decided it was time to retire. You can look at this any way you want, but to me, he decided to call it quits for a number of reasons. He lost his brother, who he was very close to. That is reason enough for anyone to decide that family should be their priority and he should spend time with them. Also, he did have knee problems. Whether it affected him playing or not last year will probably only be known to him and the team. He wouldn’t be the first to leave the game mostly healthy. During his time off, he finished his studies at Notre Dame and earned a degree. I doubt he was hurting financially or even have trouble finding a job if he stayed in Pittsburgh but having a degree would help him move to the next step in his life. Putting myself into his shoes these are all very good reasons to call it a career. I can understand it and I’m sure most fans can too. That doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t like to see Stephon pushing through opponents' lines, stuffing running backs and smashing quarterbacks this year. It just means I understand. Good luck to you Stephon.