Seahawks’ Mike Iupati to retire after 11 NFL seasons
Feb 22, 2021, 11:22 AM
Mike Iupati spent his entire 11-year NFL career in the NFC West. (Getty)
(Getty)
The Seahawks were already expected to focus on their offensive line this offseason. Now they will have one less option.
Mike Iupati, who spent the past two seasons playing left guard for Seattle, told the Spokesman-Review he is retiring after 11 years in the NFL.
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“My body was telling me it was time to close the door,” Iuapati said in the story by Peter Harriman on the Spokesman’s Idaho Vandals blog.
Iupati starred in college at Idaho before going on to the NFL, where he made four straight Pro Bowl teams – three times while with San Francisco, once with Arizona – from 2012 to 2015. He also was an All-Pro in 2012.
The 33-year-old Iupati was selected 17th overall in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the 49ers, who he spent his first five years as a pro with. He played his entire career in the NFC West, going to Arizona for four years and finishing up with the two seasons in Seattle.
Iupati, who started 25 of the 26 regular season games he played for Seattle as well as one playoff game, had nothing but good things to say about his time with the Seahawks in the Spokesman article.
“I fell in love with Seattle,” he said. “The organization was first class.
“They were so good to me.”
Injuries ultimately piled up for Iupati during his pro career, and he missed six games in 2020 due to a neck issue. He also was limited to 10 games in 2018 and just one game in 2017, both seasons in which he was with the Cardinals.
Iupati is the second Seahawks veteran to announce his retirement this offseason, joining tight end Greg Olsen, who ended his career with one season in Seattle in 2020.
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