Julius Thomas announces retirement to pursue doctorate in psychology

Free-agent tight end Julius Thomas announced his retirement from the NFL Friday in a column for The Players' Tribune.

"I realized that while I may have reached my financial goals, my work as a man was just beginning," Thomas wrote. "I learned that no matter what you have and no matter what other people see, happiness comes from your own definition of it. It became clear that I was living unaware of anything outside of my goal, which was to be the best football player I could be.

"I realized that no matter my material success, I had much work to do internally. I could no longer play to the social ideal of the happy athlete millionaire. I had to take an honest look at who I was, or as Jung would say, dive into my 'shadow.' To realize that life is tough emotionally on all of us. That we can’t grow until we have healed from the traumas of our pasts."

Thomas also wrote that he's decided to go back to school to pursue a doctorate in psychology. He intends to study therapy and "the effects of contact sports on brain trauma and neurobehavioral performance."

The tight end is stepping away from the game after seven seasons - four with the Denver Broncos, two with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and one for the Miami Dolphins (his most recent team).

On the football field, Thomas is perhaps best known for his production during his final two seasons in Denver, catching passes from Peyton Manning. He accumulated 24 touchdowns from 2013-2014.