KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The starting right tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl 54 championship team is officially ending his pro football career.
Mitchell Schwartz, who spent 2016-20 with the Chiefs and was an All-Pro selection four times in that span, announced on social media Thursday that he was ending any hopes of returning to the NFL following rehab from a back injury.
“I’m currently feeling as good as I have since then, but it’s clear my body won’t ever be the same,” Schwartz, 33, said in a Twitter post. “ ... I’ve enjoyed so much about my time in the NFL and am walking away feeling very fulfilled.”
At the start of his career, Schwartz was the NFL’s Iron Man; he played 7,894 consecutive snaps over his first eight seasons before a knee injury forced him out of a game in November 2019.
Schwartz also was a part of the Chiefs’ offensive rise after he signed a five-year deal with the team in March 2016. He was honored as an All-Pro in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, while picking up first-team All-Pro accolades in 2018.
In 2020, Schwartz played six games with the Chiefs before suffering his back injury, which kept him out the rest of the year. He did not play in the NFL last season.
In his social media post, Schwartz individually thanked Chiefs coach Andy Reid, general manager Brett Veach, offensive line coach Andy Heck and team owner Clark Hunt, among others. He also praised Kansas City and Chiefs fans, while saying he and his wife, Brooke, would be “staying in KC long term.”
“This city and its support is hard to describe until you’ve felt it personally,” Schwartz said. “I am forever a Chief and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
