Less than one week after the San Francisco 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV, one of their offensive weapons announced that he was hanging up the cleats for good.
On Friday afternoon, 31-year-old tight end Garrett Celek announced on Instagram that he would be retiring from the NFL.
"I can't thank the 49ers organization enough for giving me the opportunity to pursue my dreams and all of the countless relationships I've made along the way, especially my tight ends," wrote Celek. "Thanks for supplying me with endless stories and memories. Niner Faithful, thank you for cheering me on these past 8 seasons, love y'all, Celektime is clockin out."
Celek is the younger brother of former Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek, who is now a personnel consultant for the Eagles after retiring in 2018. Garrett Celek spent all eight of his seasons with the 49ers, the team that signed him as an undrafted free agent back in 2012. Since he was playing behind the likes of Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker, Celek made just four catches for 51 yards in his first season. The 49ers made it all the way to Super Bowl XLVII in Celek's first season, where they fell to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31. His two best seasons came in 2016 and 2017, when he caught 50 combined passes for 686 yards and seven touchdowns.
Celek has dealt with back injuries recently, and even had surgery to repair a herniated disk last June. He returned in Week 10, but played in just five games and made no catches before re-injuring his back.
In 91 career games, Celek made 82 catches for 1,104 yards and 12 touchdowns.
