Justin Dunning is only 20 years old.
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He's been part of the Texas Aggies' football program since the 2015 season, his true freshman campaign that saw him notch 20 tackles and an interception playing in 11 of 13 games. He flashed a ton of promise that season for the Aggies, but in 2016 he suffered a season-ending knee injury in fall camp.
Dunning came back from that injury this past spring and seemed poised to help the Aggies once again, this time as a linebacker. He played in just seven games this season for the Aggies, though, notching only seven tackles and a sack.
Dunning decided to retire from football, citing the multiple knee injuries and lingering pain.
"I will always love and be a fan of the game of football, but past injuries that have left lingering pains have made it difficult for me to keep playing," he wrote on Twitter. "I am grateful for every obstacle that I had to leap over on my road to recovery, but now I am at the end of that road and it is time for me to walk a different path."
This had to have been an extremely hard decision for Dunning to make. After all, he mentioned a time in his life where he was identified solely as a football player, but through this process, he has been able to learn about himself and mature. In fact, Dunning relayed that he was smiling as he wrote his retirement note.
"Now, it is finally time for me to start my hike up different mountains, and touch different lives in different ways," Dunning wrote.
It's great that Dunning has found clarity and a purpose in his new direction, but it is worth noting that this is a loss for new Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher and the Aggies.
Dunning was a four-star safety prospect in the class of 2015, ranked as the No. 130 overall player in the country and No. 5 safety in the class according to 247Sports.
