Donald Driver has decided to retire. The Green Bay Packers all-time receiving leader will formally announce the decision on Feb. 6 at Lambeau Field.
You can actually get a free ticket to the announcement through the Packers beginning tomorrow. Surely, they will use this as an opportunity to try and sell you shit.
That aside, we’ve expected this announcement since the season ended, despite some odd speculation that the Vikings were interested in Driver earlier this week.
Driver is 37 and tumbled down the Packers depth chart in 2012. He was inactive for several games down the stretch, including the Packers Wild Card playoff win. Driver finished the year with just eight catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns.
Nonetheless, Driver had a remarkable career in Green Bay. A seventh-round pick out of Alcorn State in 1999, Driver battled to make the Packers roster the first few seasons of his career.
He didn’t establish himself as a starter until 2002, when he recorded his first 1,000-yard season. That became one of his team-record seven 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Driver also holds the team records for career receptions (743) and receiving yards (10,137). He’s third in receiving touchdowns at 61.
That’s a lot of balls!
Is Driver a Hall of Famer? No, but he’s a great story and will certainly go down in Packers lore.