Haloti Ngata calls it a career after one season with the Philadelphia Eagles
After his lone season with the Philadelphia Eagles, veteran defensive tackle Haloti Ngata plans to call it a career.
Another day, another Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle is officially leaving the building. While we didn’t exactly expect Haloti Ngata to return to the midnight green in 2019, it was never officially ruled out – until now. After 13 long seasons in the NFL, former Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, and now Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Haloti Ngata calls it a career.
Although Ngata only played one year in Philadelphia, he still showed respect to the Eagles in his retirement announcement. Since he’s been in the NFL since 2006, Ngata’s time was bound to come sooner than later. So he decided that after two injury-filled seasons would be the right time to hang it up. And as Ngata climbed Mount Kilimanjaro recently, he took the time to finally make the announcement that he’s retiring from the NFL by holding up a banner that reads “I’m retiring from the NFL on top.” The flag also had the Ravens, Lions, and Eagles logos on it. Check it out!
Haloti Ngata retires after 13 seasons
Haloti Ngata just won best retirement announcement!
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) March 18, 2019
He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with Chris Long, Beau Allen, and others and he leaves on top with a retirement message #eagles
📸 @Haloti_Ngata92 pic.twitter.com/zv1dOaMTo8
It may not seem like a big deal to many Eagles fans, but Ngata was a stellar defensive lineman throughout his prime. As he hangs up his cleats, his final career stats come out impressive. After 180 career regular season games, Ngata ends with 515 total tackles, 32.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles, and five total interceptions. Unfortunately, the last few seasons have been tough for Ngata as he suffered a few significant injuries over the years.
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Assuming that the Eagles were aware that Ngata wouldn’t be back regardless, they have probably been searching for somebody to fill his role. Ngata, while healthy, had to start most of last season until Timmy Jernigan returned. Now without both, Jernigan and Ngata, the Eagles need to find somebody who can rotate in with Malik Jackson. For a moment, it could’ve seemed like Ngata could potentially come back for a year to fill that role, but that’s officially off the table now.