Following Tua Tagovailoa's recent concussion, head coach Bart Scott revealed his reasons for retiring from the NFL on Friday's ESPN's “Get Up.”
The 11-year linebacker, best respected for his time with the Jets in the latter stages of his career, said vision issues effectively ended his NFL career.
Scott was released by the Jets prior to the 2013 season due to cap issues and, although he attracted interest, he decided to retire from the sport at age 32 after a lengthy career.
“People think I retired because of my toes,” says Scott, who had reconstructive surgery on his toes before retiring, “but it was actually because I started seeing dots and lights. I was sensitive to light.”
Scott later added, “I didn't know what to do. I was like, 'Look, it's time to give up,'” admitting that he had never publicly acknowledged this before.
The admission came shortly after Tagovailoa was diagnosed with his third concussion since 2022 in Thursday night's loss.
The 26-year-old Tagovailoa played in all 17 games last season and was free of any major injuries, but has otherwise been plagued by head injuries throughout his career.
A 2006 Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection, Scott played for the Baltimore Ravens from 2002-08 as a starting linebacker.
He played the final four seasons of his career with the Jets, playing for the teams that reached back-to-back AFC Finals (2009 and 2010).
In his career, Scott recorded 747 tackles, 25 sacks, six forced fumbles and four interceptions.
He started 118 of his 172 appearances.
