Bengals captain, former Buckeyes DE Sam Hubbard retiring from football
COLUMBUS — Sam Hubbard spent his entire high school, college and pro football career in the state of Ohio. Now he’s hanging up his cleats and calling it a career after four years at Ohio State and seven seasons in the NFL.
Hubbard announced his retirement from football Wednesday morning after seven years with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cincinnati native played exclusively for his hometown team during his NFL playing days following a storied career with the Buckeyes.
“I want to send a sincere thank you to my teammates, coaches, trainers, support staff, Bengals ownership, and the NFL for everything you all have done for me,” Hubbard said in a post released on social media. “I could not have done any of this alone. To the fans — Who Dey Nation — I thank you the most; you inspired me. From the years of struggle and adversity to Super Bowl LVI, you never stopped believing. I hope I made you proud.
“To play my entire career in one uniform is incredibly special to me, and I am a Bengal for life, always have been and always will be.”
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Hubbard was a four-star recruit in the class of 2014, choosing Ohio State from Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati. He appeared in 40 games across three seasons for the Buckeyes, including a seven-sack, 14 tackle-for-loss year in 2017 that shot him up draft boards. Hubbard finished his college football career with four pairs of gold pants (wins over Michigan), a 2015 Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame and a 2017 Cotton Bowl win over USC.
After his career at Ohio State, the Bengals selected Hubbard with the No. 77 overall pick — in the third round — of the 2018 NFL Draft. He tallied 38.5 sacks, six forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, 16 pass deflections, one interception and two career touchdowns — one on each side of the ball — in 104 games across his NFL playing career to go along with four sacks in seven career postseason games, most notably helping the Bengals reach the Super Bowl a few seasons ago. He was voted a team captain in each of the past four seasons with the Bengals.
With all of those stats and achievements already realized, Hubbard is now transitioning into the next chapter of his life. He had a great college and pro football career. Now he’s retiring after seven NFL seasons.
