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May 14 (UPI) -- Veteran guard Andy Levitre has announced his retirement from the NFL after 10 seasons. Levitre made the announcement Tuesday on social media. The 6-foot-2, 303-pound offensive lineman played his last four seasons for the Atlanta Falcons.
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Levitre, 32, entered the league as a second round pick by the Buffalo Bills in the 2009 NFL Draft. He played for the Tennessee Titans in 2011 and 2012 before being traded to the Falcons in 2015.
The Oregon State product started two games in 2018 for the Falcons. He started 13 games in 2017. Levitre did not miss a start for the first eight years of his career.
"It all started as a big kid growing up in the mountains of Santa Cruz," Levitre posted on social media. "I had a fire in my belly and a burning desire to be the best football player I could be. I was never the the most talented athlete on the field so I made the conscious choice to outwork everyone else."
Levitre also wrote about how he wasn't highly-recruited. He sent out VHS tapes in hopes of being recruited out of high school.
"Although I may not have been able to reach all of my goals as an athlete, I can end this chapter of my life knowing I gave the game of football everything I had," Levitre wrote. "I have memories that will last me a life time. I met my wife while I was playing in Buffalo. I fell in love with the city of Nashville while playing for the Titans. I also had to rush out after my first playoff game with the Falcons to attend the birth of my first child."
Levitre said that injuries won't allow him to continue his career. He spent most of his 2018 campaign on injured reserve in his final season with the Falcons.
