Veteran safety Keanu Neal announced his retirement from the NFL on Sunday after eight seasons.
Selected in the first round of the 2016 draft by the Atlanta Falcons, Neal appeared in 89 games in his career. He made 69 starts for four different teams: the Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Pittsburgh Steelers.
“All the lessons learned through the game has helped mold me into who I am today,” Neal, 29, wrote in a post to Instagram on Sunday.
His best season was in 2017, when he made the only Pro Bowl appearance of his career after he set a career high with 116 tackles and started 16 games.
Following five seasons with the Falcons that included season-ending injuries in back-to-back years (ACL in 2018 and Achilles in 2019), he signed with the Cowboys in 2021 and made the switch from safety to linebacker. However, he returned to the secondary for the final two seasons of his career with the Buccaneers (2022) and Steelers (2023).
He didn’t play in the NFL last season after being released by the Steelers last March.
He finishes his career with 523 tackles, four interceptions and eight forced fumbles.