After excelling at Michigan, the former star enjoyed a successful start in the NFL before deciding to leave early.
Chase Winovich, a former Michigan football great, has departed from the NFL after just five seasons.
Winovich, 28, stated on social media that he will no longer play football.
“There’s a lot more I plan to share, for starters: It has been a wild 21 years playing football!” Winovich wrote. “The moment has arrived for me to serve the cosmos in other capacities. My parents instilled in me from a young age the conviction that I could achieve anything I set my mind to, that if I wanted something badly enough, I would find a way. With my brother’s achievement shining as a light of possibility, I had an insatiable urge to explore how far I could push my grandiose goals and accomplish what nearly no one thought was possible.
My guidance counselor asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up during a middle school assembly in front of my entire class. After I replied, “I want to be a professional football player,” she suggested I look into backup options because my prospects of playing in the NFL were “slim to none.” Not only did I, and everyone who played vicariously via me, go on to play in the NFL, but we were also selected MVP and the team’s hardest worker at Michigan, and we led the 2020 Patriots in sacks. We did it.
“I consider myself extremely fortunate and happy to have had the opportunity to play the game I love in front of so many people and on some of the world’s largest platforms. To quote my friend Matthew Slater, “we all owe football something,” which I undoubtedly do. And, to quote my grandmother, “It’s only goodbye for now.”
“I’d like to thank my family (including my brothers and their wives), friends, coaches, teammates, teachers, nutritionists, equipment managers, massage therapists, chefs, chiropractors, and everyone else who helped me when I was playing football. I could not have done this without you! God Bless! “The journey has just begun!”
The New England Patriots selected Winovich in the third round of the 2019 draft. He played three seasons for the Patriots before being dealt to the Cleveland Browns last season. After only one season in Cleveland, Winovich was signed by the Miami Dolphins over the offseason and appeared in three games.
Winovich recorded 11 sacks in his first two seasons with the Patriots, but only one in his final three seasons.
He finished his NFL career with 108 tackles, 12 sacks, one FF, and one interception.
Winovich played for Michigan for five years, earning an All-American honor in 2018 and totaling 185 tackles and 18 sacks.
