DeMarco Murray announces retirement after seven seasons

July 13 (UPI) -- Former Offensive Player of the Year DeMarco Murray announced his retirement from the NFL on Friday.

Murray made the announcement while appearing as an analyst on ESPN's NFL Live.

"I've decided to retire from the game of football," Murray said. "It has been a great seven years of my career. I have been very blessed to have had the coaching staffs and the players and the teammates that I have been fortunate enough to play with for the last seven years of my career."

"It has been a long time thinking over the last year or two and physically, mentally, emotionally I think it's time for me to hang it up as hard as it is."

Murray called the move "bittersweet" but he thinks it's the right time to quite the game. "It's time for me," he said.

Murray, 30, had 659 yards and six touchdowns on 184 carries in 15 games last season for the Tennessee Titans. He averaged a career-low 3.6 yards per carry. Murray had his best season in 2014 with the Dallas Cowboys, running for a league-high 1,845 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also piled up a league-best 2,261 yards from scrimmage in 16 games that season, en route to being named an All-Pro.

The third-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft spent his first four seasons with the Cowboys, before being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016. He was traded to the Titans in 2016.