For Carolina Panthers five-time Pro Bowl center Ryan Kalil, it appears that the upcoming 2018 season, his 12th, will be his final campaign in the NFL. According to an article written by Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer, Kalil said in a phone interview on Tuesday that he plans to hang up his pads for good once next season is done.
“This is going to be the last one for me,” Kalil said.
Just like Panthers star linebacker Thomas Davis, who also recently said 2018 will be his final year as a player in the NFL, Kalil will have played his entire career with the same team. The USC product, who was drafted in the second round by the Panthers in the 2007 NFL Draft, is a two-time First-Team All-Pro and one-time Second-Team All-Pro.
Unfortunately for the 33-year-old, a serious neck injury during the 2017 season limited him to just six games.
Article Continues Below“I’m of the mindset to try to keep my medical stuff as private as humanly possible,” Kalil said, “Thus the vagueness that you get and the jokes that accompany it with me waking up with a stiff neck and things like that.”
Kalil says he is most excited being able to train fully this upcoming offseason.
“The thing I’m excited about is to actually have an offseason to train because I haven’t had that. I didn’t get that last year and I think that’s part of what contributed to my injury this last season,” Kalil said.
As for a farewell tour during his final season, the longtime Panthers center does not expect anything of that nature.
“I’m not doing the farewell tour, that's for sure,” Kalil said.