Green Bay Packer Donald Driver officially announced his retirement today.
Now I don't watch sports-- or pay too much attention to them. But living an hour from Green Bay, you kinda pick up things about the Packers. It's everywhere. It's a matter of surviving nearly any conversation.
So, yeah, I've heard about Donald Driver. I've seen clips while watching the news. I've read of his exploits in the newspaper. Any story about him mentions his strong work ethic and his pure joy of playing a game for a living.
He played for one team: the Green Bay Packers. In this modern sports era of "what have you done lately" we live in, that's pretty darn unusual. He not only played for only one team, he played for it for fourteen years. When the average NFL career is three years, that's something. On a team known for players with serious longevity, Driver has the fourth-longest tenure with it. Crazy.
A skinny player drafted in the seventh round lasted fourteen years when many wouldn't have guessed he'd make the team at all. But he worked his ass off. He was a great teammate. He made some incredible plays. He is the receiving leader for the Packers and holds the most reception yards record for them. And he has the third-most touchdowns by a Packer.
Here are two amazing plays Number 80 made happen out of sheer willpower.
But even more important than being a great player, he was (and is) a great member of the community. Mike Woods tells the story wonderfully in this piece.
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