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Right tackle Zach Strief said Monday he will retire after 12 seasons in the NFL, all with the New Orleans Saints. "I could not have been more fortunate than having Sean Payton as a head coach for the past 12 years," he said at a sometimes tearful press conference, with the coach sitting next to him. "You had more to do with me getting an opportunity here than anyone else. You took a chance on me when no one else would. Your faith in me has changed my life forever."
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Strief was a seventh-round pick out of Northwestern in 2006, when Payton was a rookie head coach with the Saints.
Strief, 34, played in 158 games for the Saints, starting 94. He was part of New Orleans' Super Bowl-winning team from the 2009 season, and he became a regular starter in 2011, staying in that role until early 2017 when a knee injury cut his season short after two games.
"I can't say enough about what Zach Strief has meant to this team and to me personally over the last 12 years," quarterback Drew Brees said in a statement.
"There's not a better teammate. Not a better leader. Not a better man. Not a better friend. He was the same person every day and never have I known someone to have a better pulse of the team. He knew exactly what to say and when to say it and we listened."
