Patrick Willis harbors no plans to short-circuit his retirement from the NFL.
Responding to a Bleacher Report think-piece suggesting that the former San Francisco 49ers linebacker was considering a comeback, Willis took to social media on Thursday to detonate the gossip:
"I MADE MY DECISION BACK IN APRIL??" Willis wrote. "AND I HAVEN'T THOUGHT TWICE ABOUT IT; NOR?? PLAYING ANOTHER DOWN IN THE NFL...PERIOD??????...SO QUIT TRYING TO BRING LIFE; on a CHAPTER that I have already CLOSED IN MY HEART and MIND...MY FOCUS IS IN THE PERFCT PLACE RIGHT NOW AND THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS TO ME...My PURPOSE 4??Life IS SO MUCH BIGGER THAN FOOTBALL; FOR I AM GRATEFUL FOR THE TIME I WAS BLESSED TO PLAY ....IN THE GREAT WORDS OF 2-PAC #LIFEGOESON"
Willis, 30, stunned the league in March by announcing that he was walking away after eight seasons with the Niners, who made him their first-round pick in 2007.
After tallying seven Pro Bowls and five first-team All-Pro selections, Willis finished last season on injured reserve following surgery on a nagging toe injury. His choice to leave the game, though, seemed to channel from somewhere else -- a place of calm.
"As I stand up here today, it's tough, it's hard, but it's also easy at the same time," Willis said in March. "I knew there would be a day I'd leave, and I always told myself that I wanted it to be on my terms. So here I am today standing before you guys, not as a perfect man, but as an honest man ... I have no regrets."
