John Urschel Ravens retirement
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NFL starter opts to retire at just 26 years old

This came out of nowhere.

Baltimore Ravens starting center John Urschel is moving on from the NFL at just 26-years-old.

Urschel, who has been referred to as the smartest man in the NFL, was confirmed to have retired by head coach John Harbaugh.

Via BaltimoreRavens.com:

"This morning John Urschel informed me of his decision to retire from football," Head Coach John Harbaugh said in a statement. "We respect John and respect his decision. We appreciate his efforts over the past three years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors."

The Ravens, who are already starting to get hit with the injury bug, definitely needed Urschel this season, even though he's been mostly a backup throughout his career.

Urschel's retirement also comes at a time when a new study came out Tuesday that concluded 110 out of the 111 players that donated their brains for CTE research were confirmed to have had it.

It should be interesting to see what Urschel does following his professional football career. He's already been featured on "Real Sports" on HBO, NFL Films, etc. for how gifted he is off-the-field.