Why did JC Tretter retire? NFLPA president and former Browns, Packers center explains decision and how NFL may have influenced it

Abraham Smith

JC Tretter calls it a career on his own terms.

On Thursday, the former Browns and Packers center and current NFL Players Association (NFLPA) president announced that he was retiring from the NFL after eight seasons.

“I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and how far I’ve come since that night I made the promise to myself,” Tretter wrote of a letter he wrote to himself aged 20 and in which he outlined his desire to be an NFL player. “I feel like if my 31-year-old self could talk to my 20-year-old self, I could seriously tell him we did it. We did everything we said and more.”

Tretter played in 111 games and made 90 starts during his career after being selected in the fourth round by the Packers in 2013. In his last five seasons, he started 82 of a possible 83 games for the Browns; His only missed outing was a positive COVID-19 test last season.

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Tretter has been consistently rated high among Pro Football Focus’s middle grades, ranking sixth out of 39 players at that position in 2021. Despite his strong performance, he was never selected as an AP All-Pro and was never selected to a Pro Bowl.

Tretter has served as NFLPA President since taking over from Eric Winston on March 10, 2020. During that time, Tretter has guided players through CBA negotiations and multiple negotiations involving the NFL’s COVID-related health and safety protocols.

Tretter wasn’t afraid to speak his mind in the role, and was recently critical of field conditions at Bears Stadium, Soldier Field. This level of advocacy for player safety naturally endeared him to the players, who unanimously re-elected him as NFLPA President in March 2022.

Obviously, he hasn’t found as much support in other segments of the league.

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Why did JC Tretter retire?

As Tretter revealed in a recent Sports Illustrated interview, teams never really showed any interest in him after the Browns fired him during the 2022 NFL offseason. He and his agent approached seven teams, including the Panthers, Cowboys and Vikings, but none showed any interest.

That may have been due to Tretter’s job as NFLPA president, as his agent pointed out in a phone call with the center.

“I got a call in mid-June,” Tretter told Sports Illustrated, “and it was like, ‘I didn’t realize how many people you pissed off.'”

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Not only Tretter’s agent noticed that. Tretter’s former teammate Joel Bitonio was asked for his opinion on Tretter’s status without a contract during training camp. He hinted that Tretter may have been blacked out a bit because of his work as NFLPA President.

If you have a guy that’s in the top 5, top 10 mid league and not on a roster and he’s the NFLPA president and maybe some owners don’t appreciate what he brings to certain subjects , where he’s trying to protect player security and things like that, that strikes me as a little suspicious.

Bitonio continued that he didn’t know what was happening behind closed doors but continued to say the situation didn’t sit well with him.

Though Tretter also has his suspicions about the reasons he wasn’t signed, he doesn’t seem ready to hold a grudge.

“I took [the NFLPA] Job who knows the risks,” Tretter told Sports Illustrated. “I think that’s the price of leadership.”

Instead, he will shift his focus to his work with the NFLPA as he transitions into life off the field.

“I look forward to doubling down on my duties as NFLPA President and pushing for more progress on behalf of the great players of our game, past, present and future.”

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