LOOK: McKenzie Milton announces retirement from football

After making an amazing return to football with Florida State this past year, former UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton announced he’s retiring from football.

Milton penned a lengthy Instagram post Thursday night to announce the news now that the 2022 NFL Draft is in the books. He made his return to the field in 2021 for Florida State after suffering a brutal leg injury in 2018 when he dislocated his knee and tore some ligaments. He also tore the main artery that feeds blood to the leg — making a return to football seemingly impossible.

But he did just that, appearing in six games for Florida State this past season. Now, he’s hanging up his cleats.

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A post shared by McKenzie Milton (@mckenziemil10)

“There is no easy way to put or say this but my playing days of football have come to an end,” Milton wrote. “With the culmination of the 2022 NFL draft it has become pretty evident that a path to the NFL is not realistic given the external variables. … As much as I love playing QB and being in the locker room with the guys, I know there’s no greater opportunity/responsibility in this world than being a father.”

More on McKenzie Milton

In his six appearances with the Seminoles, Milton completed 81 of 139 passes for 775 yards and three touchdowns. He came into the first game of the year against Notre Dame when starter Jordan Travis left the game after losing his helmet. In that matchup — his first game action since the injury — Milton completed five of seven passes for 48 yards and two scoring drives to keep the Seminoles in the game.

Milton arrived at UCF, where he played the first three years of his career, as a three-star recruit and the No. 11 prospect in Hawaii from the class of 2016, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He also developed quite a social media following, which gives him an NIL Valuation of 164K. That puts him at No. 196 in the On3 College Football NIL Rank.