The Chargers officially severed ties with All-Pro center Corey Linsley on Wednesday, releasing him months after he said he was “99% certain” that he would retire from the NFL after a stellar, decade-long career because of a heart ailment discovered early in the 2023 season.
“Corey is everything you hope for and more in an NFL player,” Chargers president of football operations John Spanos said in a statement. “The consummate professional, his mentorship of younger players, work ethic, integrity, leadership, competitive drive and sense of humor all played a role in earning him the ‘C’ on his jersey throughout the entirety of his time with us.”
Spanos referred to Linsley’s role as one of the Chargers’ captains. Linsley spent three seasons with the Chargers and seven with the Green Bay Packers, who drafted him in the fifth round from Ohio State in 2014. He was a Pro Bowl selection in the 2021 season, his first after signing with the Chargers.
“And as good of a football player as he is, Corey is an even better person,” Spanos said.
Off the field, Linsley was the Chargers’ nominee as the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2021 for his work in the community, especially with Court Appointed Special Advocates, a nonprofit organization that assists abused and neglected children who are under court protection.
Linsley, who turns 33 on July 27, played only three games this past season before he was sidelined by a heart ailment. Doctors told him to drop weight and to end his career because the strain on the field and in the weight room would place too much stress on his heart.
At season’s end in January, Linsley said he was “99% certain” he would retire.
Linsley wasn’t available for comment Wednesday, but in a March 7 interview he told Southern California News Group columnist Mirjam Swanson, “Week by week, day by day, I’m seeing what feels best, what’s sustainable. That’s kind of where I’m at right now; it’s a new little project for me to do, something I’d never had to do before.
“Definitely, I’ll miss it (playing football), and I’ll always miss it. But there’s been a lot of reflection, and there’s a lot of appreciation. It’s all good in the end.”
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Linsley hasn’t made a formal retirement announcement and was listed on the Chargers’ roster as of Tuesday. The Chargers made plans to replace him by signing free-agent center Bradley Bozeman on a one-season, $1.125-million contract earlier this year. Linsley had two seasons left on his five-year, $62.5-million deal.
“While he has taken his last snap in the NFL, Corey’s story is far from being written,” Spanos said. “We cannot wait to see what the next chapter has in store for the Linsleys, and we wish Corey, (wife) Anna (and children) Seamus, Killian, Quinn and Ruth all the best moving forward.”
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