Veteran NFL linebacker Jordan Hicks called it a career following a productive 10-year run that included stops on four different teams. Hicks, who was entering the final year of a two-year contract with the Cleveland Browns, started his career with the Philadelphia Eagles before spending time with the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings before coming to Cleveland in 2024. A member of the Eagles’ 2017 Super Bowl-winning team, Hicks retires with 952 career tackles, 13 interceptions, 11 fumble recoveries and six forced fumbles in 131 regular season games.
“Football has given me more than I could have ever imagined,” Hicks, 33, wrote in his retirement post. “Purpose, discipline, brotherhood, and a platform to impact others. But most importantly it showed me who I am outside the game. I leave this chapter with deep gratitude for every lesson, challenge and victory. I’m proud of what I accomplished on the field, but even more proud of the man I’ve become because of it.”
The 84th overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Hicks became a full-time starter on Philadelphia’s defense by his second season. While an injury prevented him from playing during the second half of the team’s Super Bowl run the following season, Hicks returned to the starting lineup the following season and posted then-career highs in tackles (91) and sacks (3.0) in 12 games.
Hicks parlayed his success that season into a four-year, $36 million deal with the Cardinals the ensuing offseason. In 2019, Hicks recorded a career-high 150 tackles while also collecting three picks. That was the start of four consecutive years in Arizona that saw him record at least 100 tackles.
While he continued to play at a high level in Minnesota, that’s when the injuries started to become an issue up Hicks. He was hospitalized after sustaining a leg injury during a midseason game in 2023. Hicks then continued to battle injuries during his lone season in Cleveland that included a concussion that kept him sidelined during the team’s final game.
Hicks played 45 games over five season and earned Second Team All-American status during his college career with the Texas Longhorns. Hicks was a 247Sports five-star recruit and the No. 5 overall prospect in the 2010 out of West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West High.
“I walk away with peace,” he wrote, “knowing I gave football all I had, and that the best is yet to come.”
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