Vince Wilfork hints at retirement following Texans playoff loss
By John Buhler
With the Houston Texans being eliminated from the AFC Playoffs by the New England Patriots, have we seen the last of Texans nose tackle Vince Wilfork?
The Houston Texans fought admirably in their AFC Divisional Round game against the New England Patriots, but ultimately lost on Saturday night 34-16 in Foxborough to be eliminated from Super Bowl 51 contention.
Houston had a great season with one of the best defenses in the NFL. While they were without star defensive end J.J. Watt for most of the year, it seems that the Texans are about to lose another player in the 2017 NFL season.
After Saturday night’s loss to New England, five-time NFL Pro Bowl nose tackle Vince Wilfork hinted that he may have played his last NFL game. Wilfork is 35 years old and just finished his 13th NFL season out of the University of Miami.
Wilfork spoke with the media after the Texans’ loss saying, “I think I may have played my last NFL football game.” He will be a free agent this spring and could choose to hang up the spikes entirely. It would be the end of an era in the AFC should Wilfork call it a career.
He spent his first 11 NFL seasons with the Patriots (2004-14) as the No. 21 pick out of the University of Miami. In New England, Wilfork was the cornerstone of the Patriots front-seven. At 6’2″, 325 pounds, there may not be a more athletic nose tackle in NFL history than Wilfork.
He did more than take up space in New England and Houston’s front-seven. Wilfork could get after the quarterback, make plays defending the pass, and was an absolute road grader in run defense.
While he only made five Pro Bowls and garnered one All-Pro selection in 2012, Wilfork feels almost certainly Canton bound. He redefined the defensive tackle position. When Warren Sapp retired, Wilfork emerged as the best player at his position for a five-year period.
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While the Belichick Patriots likely won’t send many players to Canton, we have to believe Wilfork is one of them. He wasn’t going to keep doing this forever, but we’ll miss the way Wilfork played nose tackle for all these years should he retire.