Veteran offensive lineman Jared Veldheer said in a statement to NFL Network on Thursday that he plans to retire after he was suspended for six games by the league.
Veldheer, 33, said in a statement to NFL Network that a Clomid prescription resulted in the suspension. He said was taking the medication because of “abnormally low” testosterone, which he suggested was “caused from pituitary damage suffered from repeated blows to the head.”
This will be the second time Veldheer has retired from the NFL. The Green Bay Packers lured him out of retirement in November 2019. He had retired earlier that year after signing with the New England Patriots.
He finished last season with the Packers, who signed him off the Indianapolis Colts‘ practice squad during the playoffs. He had started at left tackle for the Colts in their wild-card playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills and had a chance to become the first player to play for two different teams in the same postseason but tested positive for COVID-19, preventing any appearance for Green Bay.
Veldheer was in his second stint with the Packers. He started for Green Bay at right tackle in the NFC divisional playoff victory over the Seattle Seahawks the previous year after Bryan Bulaga became ill before the game.
He entered the NFL as a third-round draft choice of the Oakland Raiders out of Division II Hillsdale College, playing in 121 regular-season games (114 starts) for the Raiders (2010-2013), Arizona Cardinals (2014-2017), Denver Broncos (2018), Packers (2019) and Colts (2020).