Kenyan Drake announces retirement from NFL after 8 seasons
The National Football League can be a real grind for running backs, and luckily for veteran Kenyan Drake, he managed to last eight seasons. On Friday evening, Drake officially announced his retirement from the NFL, after spending time with seven different franchises. He announced he was hanging his cleats up for good on his Instagram page.
“It’s been an incredible ride.” Drake wrote. “Hard to believe 8 seasons have come and gone. I’ve loved the journey – the wins, the moments big and small, the comradery, the energy, all of it. I can’t say I loved everything (if you’ve ever done training camp in Miami you can relate lol), but certainly appreciate the lows and the grind, and know those moments grew me as a football player and more importantly as a person. Ready to enjoy a little retirement and see where the next chapter takes me. Thanks to everyone that was along for the ride with me – wouldn’t change a thing.”
Drake made a lot of spectacular plays in his career, but none of them were quite like the Miami Miracle.
Kenyan Drake and the Miami Miracle
In the closing seconds of the Dolphins-Patriots game in Miami, his team was trailing by five points. With just seven seconds remaining on the clock, quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw a pass across the middle that was caught by Kenny Stills, who then lateraled the ball to the right side of the field to DeVante Parker. Parker then lateraled the ball to Darke.
He caught the lateral at around the 50-yard line, somehow managed to weave his way in and around Patriots defenders, and race all the way to the end zone. It was the game-winning play for the Dolphins and will forever go down as one of the more miraculous plays in NFL history.
Drake hangs up his cleats with some solid production to his resume. He was a dynamic receiver over the years and finished with 218 catches for 1,655 yards and eight touchdowns. As a runner, the NFL veteran finished with 869 carries for 3,866 yards and 33 touchdowns. The best season of his career came in 2020 with the Arizona Cardinals, when he started 13 of 15 games. Drake had 239 carries for 955 yards and 10 touchdowns–the highest numbers of his career in all of those categories. He also managed to haul in 25 catches for 137 yards.
Drake spent more than three years with the Miami Dolphins (2016-2019). They were the franchise that drafted him in the 2016 NFL Draft, picking him in the third round with the No. 73 overall selection. In 2018 with the Dolphins, he hauled in 53 catches for 477 yards and five touchdowns. All of those were career highs for his NFL career.
During his college football days with the Alabama Crimson Tide, Drake saw limited action due to injuries and serving as the backup to TJ Yeldon and Derrick Henry. He finished with 233 carries for 1,495 yards and 18 touchdowns. As a receiver, he finished with 46 catches for 570 yards and a touchdown.
As a high school prospect, Drake was highly touted. He played his high school football with Hillgrove High School (Powder Springs, Georgia). As a senior, he rushed for 1,610 yards and 18 touchdowns. Drake earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors in the state of Georgia. He was rated as the No. 15 running back prospect in America and a four-star, according to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2012 cycle. When he chose the Crimson Tide, he picked them over offers from Georgia and Georgia Tech.