Nick Chubb, former Browns running back, announces retirement from NFL at 30
Chubb made the Pro Bowl for Cleveland 4 consecutive seasons from 2019-22
Nick Chubb, a four-time Pro Bowl running back who starred for the Cleveland Browns, announced his retirement from the NFL on Instagram on Friday night.
Chubb, 30, spent seven of his eight seasons in the league with the Browns. He played for the Houston Texans during the 2025 campaign, and the Georgia product finished with fewer than 600 scrimmage yards for the third straight go-around.
While he appeared in 15 games — his most since 2022 — he didn't have the makings of the star he used to be. Chubb wasn't the same after he suffered a pair of heartbreaking injuries.
The first saw him tear his MCL and damage his ACL in his left knee — the same knee he severely injured as a sophomore in college — early in the 2023 season. That setback required multiple surgeries. Chubb returned amid the 2024 season, and he broke his left foot less than two months later.
"Today's the day I've been avoiding for a while," Chubb wrote in his IG post. "Twelve-year-old me could never imagine this day, and 30-year-old me is wondering where all the time has gone.
"I've known for some time now, but I'm finally ready to share that I'm done playing football. I wanted to end my career on a healthy note, along with a winning season, and I was able to do that."Last season, Chubb was part of a Texans squad that went 12-5 and made the divisional round of the AFC playoffs. He had been on only two playoff teams before that, and one of them was the 2023 Browns, for whom he was sidelined most of the season, including the postseason.
A bruising runner in his prime, Chubb clocked out with 7,349 rushing yards and 59 total touchdowns. The bulk of those arrived from 2019-22. Each year during that span, he earned Pro Bowl recognition while eclipsing the 1,000-yard rushing barrier. In 2022, he registered a career-high 1,525 yards on the ground. His 13 total touchdowns that season were also a personal best.
That said, thanks to a career-high 278 receiving yards, his most scrimmage yards (1,772) came in 2019, his second year in the league after the Browns drafted him in the second round with the No. 35 overall pick.
In Chubb's IG post, he mentioned that he made several promises to himself at the start of his football journey. He admitted he wasn't able to keep all of them.
"In college, I wanted to win the Heisman, become an All-American and win a national championship," he wrote. "In the NFL, I wanted to lead the league in rushing, win MVP and win a Super Bowl for the city of Cleveland.
"I wasn't able to accomplish any of those things."
He added, though: "And what's most frustrating, but also gives me peace, is that I know for a fact that I gave it my all."
Chubb discussed his injury troubles in the post as well. He explained how hurting his left knee for a second time, then in his late 20s, was a vastly different experience than the one he had at 19 when he was at Georgia.
"At UGA, when it first happened, I was young, naïve and didn't fully understand the extent of the injury," he said. "I believe that played a part in me being able to bounce back and eventually return to form.
"At 28, it's different. You understand that you have the rest of your life to look forward to. And that's exactly what I started to do. I say this to all my brothers still on the field, still in the heat of it: There's a life waiting for you after football, too. And health is the real wealth.
"I end my career in a great place. Even though there are some things I wish had happened differently, I can say that I have no regrets."
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