Former Boyle County High School and University of Kentucky star Jacob Tamme has officially announced his retirement from professional football.
After very successful high school and college careers, Tamme was drafted in the 4th round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He spent just under a decade with the Colts, Broncos and Falcons.
Here is Tamme’s announcement via Facebook:
Jacob Tamme
Seems a fitting day for one big extra-lengthy Thank You:
I know the masses have been clamoring for a press conference but alas there will not be one… Although if there were to be one my expectation is that it would be a strange and brilliant mix of Peyton’s retirement presser/Sean Spicer/Mike Leach.
In all seriousness, today seems as good a time as any to announce my retirement from playing football. I’ve been retired in my own mind for a while now and have resisted the idea of making a “statement” but I do want to thank some people publicly… so here goes:
God, thank you for your Son and your grace. May you be glorified!
Thank you to all the people who gave me a chance to get to the NFL. Chuck Smith, Rich Brooks, Joker Phillips, Steve Ortmayer, all of my teammates at Boyle County high school and at my beloved University of Kentucky — A guy like me would never have had a chance to write a statement like this without all of you.
Thank you to Tony Dungy and Bill Polian for giving me one incredible phone call on draft day in 2008. Thank you to Jim Caldwell, John Fox, and Dan Quinn for creating fun atmospheres for me to play football in.
Thank you to the fans in Indianapolis, Denver, and ATL. I was truly blessed to play football in three great cities that my family and I enjoyed living in.
Thank you Clyde Christiansen and Eric Simpson for your friendship and for bringing me closer to Christ.
Thank you Tom Moore, Adam Gase, Mike McCoy, Kyle Shanahan. I played in some really good offenses and had a blast doing it. Thank you to Russ Purnell, Ray Rychleski, and Jeff Rodgers for helping me become a pretty darn good special-teams player during a couple of stretches in my career.
Thank you to all the leaders in the Indianapolis Colts locker room my rookie year. You guys showed me that you could build a heck of a football team on the backs of really good people.
Thank you Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Brandon Stokely, Austin Collie, Wes Welker, Anthony Gonzalez, DT, Emmanuel Sanders, Eric Decker, Mohamad Sanu, and Julio Jones… for being great receivers AND great teammates.
Thank you to my brother Wesley Woodyard. To have had the privilege of playing football alongside you for four years in college in three years in the NFL is something I’ll always treasure!
Thank you Dallas Clark for teaching me how to be a pro. Thank you Joel Dreessen for being a heck of a friend. And Levine Toilolo, Tony Moeaki, DJ Tialavia, Virgil Green, Julius Thomas, Tom Santi, Gijon Robinson, Austin Hooper and every other TE I shared a meeting room with. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Speaking of that… thanks Clancy, Wade, and Ricky T. Y’all made me a better player and made playing tight end challenging and fun.
Thank you Hammer, Greek and Marty. Thank you Josh, Easy E, Danny, Erin, Wally, Flip, Harry, Brian, Jimmy, and Kennyyyyyy. And every other behind the scenes person who helped me along the way.
Thanks Marc Hill, Jon Torine, Luke Richesson, JG, Anthony, Mike, AJ, Jonas, and Jesse. I never would’ve had these biceps with you.
I got to block for a lot of really good running backs but I’m not sure any of them are more explosive than the two in Atlanta right now. Thanks Free and Tevin for making me look like a good blocker these last couple of years. Thank you Donald Brown, CJ Anderson and Joseph Addai.
Thank you to Adam Vinateri, Britton Colquitt, Matt Bosher, Matt Bryant, Matt Prater, Brandon McManus and Pat McAfee for being good dudes and for all the good laughs we had together. Also thanks for the constant reminder that there truly are easy ways to make millions. I kid, I kid.
Dan Orlovsky, Curtis Painter, Matt Schaub, Jim Sorgi, Brock Osweiler, TJ Yates… thanks for talking to me when Matt and Peyton were too busy.
Thank you Pat DiMarco and Taylor Begley for your friendship.
Thank you to every OT that ever combo blocked with me. The two big hogs in Atlanta, Jake Matthews and Ryan Schraeder – – nobody did it better than you two! In fact thanks to the entire OL in Atlanta for a lot of fun. Mack, Andy, Silver Fox, Wes (yes even you Wes!) … Sat, Kupe, Diemer, Manny, Clady, Big Louie, and all the other OLmen I have the pleasure of calling friends, thank you.
Thank you to my mom and dad for being who you are, always having my back, and always being there no matter what. Thanks that you never changed. Thank you for all the sacrifices you made to allow me to have this journey. Also, a shout out to my in-laws… y’all are alright I guess. (I have the best in-laws ever)
Thank you Grandaddy. Thank you Sarah Jane for all your support. And Seth for never letting me get the big head.
Thank you to Matt Ryan for being my QB these last 2 years. After playing with Peyton for 7 years I was accustomed to a pretty high standard at QB and you exceeded every expectation. A great QB and a great leader. You are a stud and I’m thankful to have played ball with you.Speaking of Peyton, there’s really nothing I can say. No single person made a greater impact on my football career than you. I loved playing the game with you. More than that, I loved the laughs. It was an honor to be your teammate and it’s an even greater honor to be your friend.
Thank you to my daughter, Lyla, for your constant love. And thank you to my son, Luke, for ensuring that it’ll be a long time before there is not a football game waiting for me to play.
Lastly, I put God at the top and I put the second most important at the bottom. Thank you to my beautiful, amazing, and patient wife, Allison. You have been my sidekick for this entire football journey and there is no one else on the planet I would rather have shared it with. To think of the experiences we’ve had together is mind-boggling. I can’t wait to see what life brings us next!
Football is an incredible game. The ultimate team sport. And from High School through the NFL I was fortunate to be on a lot of good ones. I know I’ve left multiple people out in this note (and naming so many makes it even worse) but please know that if I suited up with you, I considered it an honor.
Thanks for taking the time to read my thanks. A church sign I drove by today said “Thankfulness is the soil in which Joy grows.” I believe this is true.
My favorite quote of all time is the old Teddy Roosevelt “In The Arena” quote… (i’ll spare you my typing it here but you really should look it up)… it sums up everything I feel about having played football for a living. It was truly a privilege to be In The Arena.
On to the next chapter…
