Glover Hangs 'Em Up

After six Pro Bowl appearances and 13 seasons, well-traveled defensive tackle LaRoi Glover has decided to put away his jockstrap.

At his best, Glover was one of the better defensive tackles in the game thanks to a quick first step that allowed him to beat bigger and stronger offensive linemen (he was only 6-foot-2, 290 pounds). With the Saints in 2000, he led the NFL with 17 sacks, starting a string of six straight Pro Bowl appearances.

He carried that success over to the Cowboys, but Dallas' switch to a 3-4 defense left him trying to play nose tackle in a system that didn't fit him nearly as well. Eventually the Cowboys pushed him aside, bringing in Jason Ferguson to provide more bulk in the middle.
Glover bounced back to finish his career with three decent seasons with the Rams. Even more than his 83.5 sacks, Glover's best attribute was his durability--from 1998 to 2008 he never missed a game because of injury. While not a Hall of Famer, Glover was one of the better defensive tackles of the past decade.

According to Glover's Twitter account, he's attending the NFL Films broadcaster's school with the hope of potentially becoming a broadcaster. He's also working on taking the GMAT in preparation for getting an MBA and moving on in his life after football.

With a number of big names--like Derrick Brooks, Kevin Carter and Willie McGinnest--still unsigned, we may see several more of these retirement announcements over the next two months.