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Veteran receiver Robert Woods has signed a one-day contract to retire with his hometown Los Angeles Rams.
Woods announced his retirement decision Tuesday on social media after a 13-year NFL career spent with five teams. The Rams swiftly added that Woods is retiring as a member of the team with which he spent five productive years and won a Super Bowl.
“It’s time for me to step away from the sport that has given me everything,” Woods wrote. “Football has never just been a game to me — it has been my passion, my purpose and my lifelong dream. I cherished every moment my cleats touched the grass. Every time I stepped onto the field, I was determined to leave a piece of myself in every snap.”
The 33-year-old Woods is a native of suburban Carson who became an All-American at the University of Southern California before spending his first four NFL seasons with the Buffalo Bills.
He had the best seasons of his career back home in Los Angeles after he signed with the Rams during the franchise’s fateful 2017 offseason — when the team also hired coach Sean McVay, signed stalwart left tackle Andrew Whitworth and drafted fellow receiver Cooper Kupp.
Woods had 367 catches for 4,626 yards and 23 touchdowns during his five seasons with the Rams, putting up the only two 1,000-yard seasons of his career and serving as a dependable bookend to the prolific Kupp while catching passes from Jared Goff. Woods topped 85 catches and 900 yards in three consecutive seasons from 2018-20, and he had five catches for 70 yards in the Rams’ loss to New England in the Super Bowl in February 2019.
Woods was having another productive year with Matthew Stafford and the Rams in 2021 when he tore a knee ligament during practice in November, ending his season. The Rams went on to win the Super Bowl with Odell Beckham Jr. filling in for Woods, who had signed a lucrative contract extension in 2020.
But the Rams traded Woods to Tennessee in the ensuing offseason, and he spent one season with the Titans before two years with the Houston Texans. He went to training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers last summer, but didn’t make their roster and spent last season out of the league.
“This game gave me memories, brotherhood and a legacy I am forever proud of,” Woods wrote. “I walk away deeply grateful and fulfilled.”
Woods is still USC’s career leader with 252 receptions over his three seasons with the Trojans. His 32 TD catches are second in school history, and his 2,930 yards receiving are seventh.
Reporting by The Associated Press
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