‘What I’ve done for 37 years’: Texas legend Colt McCoy retires from football
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Former Texas Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy announced he’s calling it a football career.
In a video posted to YouTube, McCoy announced his retirement from football after 12 NFL seasons with Cleveland, San Francisco, Arizona, Washington and the New York Giants.
“Football’s been what I’ve done for 37 years. I gave it all I had,” McCoy said in the video.
McCoy is set to join NBC Sports’ coverage of Big Ten Football this season, working as a game analyst with appearances on the Big Ten College Countdown studio show. McCoy’s first game as an analyst will be Sept. 7 when Nebraska hosts Colorado at 6:30 p.m. CT.
McCoy was a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist during four spectacular seasons with Texas. The unheralded QB recruit out of Tuscola, Texas, broke multiple passing records during his time with the Longhorns.
He played in 53 games with Texas, throwing for 13,253 passing yards and 112 touchdowns. He also rushed for 20 touchdowns from 2006 to 2009. McCoy led Texas to its most recent National Championship game appearance in the 2009 season.
McCoy injured his shoulder in the first few minutes against Alabama and wasn’t able to return to the title game due to the injury. No. 2 Texas lost to No. 1 Alabama 37-21
“Just not being able to play that game. That one stung, that will always sting,” McCoy said about the 2010 game.
McCoy played in 56 NFL games, starting 36, between 2010 and 2022. McCoy didn’t play in 2023, pointing to a lingering elbow injury. He told Austin media members at his annual kids camp in June that he had opportunities to play in 2023, but “physically wasn’t able to do it.”
“I haven’t really talked much about my situation. I never like to give excuses. I’ve been fortunate enough to play 14 years. I tore my elbow pretty bad, and I’m not sure if I’m going to get over that, to be honest and that’s a tough one. But at the same time, injuries are a part of the game and I’ve certainly had my fair share. It’s almost like a hard stop. We’ll see but had many opportunities to jump back in last year week-to-week [in] a lot of places. I just physically wasn’t able to do it,” McCoy said in June.
The 25-minute retirement video takes viewers through McCoy’s entire storied football career from his early days at Jim Ned High School through his decade-long NFL career.
McCoy regularly returned to Austin during the NFL offseason, holding a summer football camp for kids. His 2024 camp benefitted Dell Children’s Medical Center.
“Dell Children’s and Ascension has been an awesome partner. We’ve raised thousands and thousands of dollars for the hospital which makes me very happy and privileged to be able to do this. Two of my favorite days of the year when all these kids come. We had about 200 campers sign up…I’m humbled that I’m able to do this and the kids show up. Most of these kids weren’t born when I was playing at UT,” McCoy said at the June camp.