Stephon Gilmore was an integral member of the New England Patriots\u2019 last championship, sealing the team\u2019s win over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII with a fourth-quarter interception. That play marked one of many highlights in a 13-year NFL career that has now found its end.<\/p>\n
As he announced on Thursday, Gilmore is stepping away from the game.<\/p>\n
Besides his video, Gilmore also released a statement on his retirement:<\/p>\n
To my first love, Football \u2014<\/p>\n
As a young, scrappy kid from Rock Hill South Carolina with humble beginnings, the eldest of 6 \u2013 you gave me focus, opportunity, strength, and friends to last a lifetime.<\/p>\n
From my first game with Finley Road Falcons\u00a0to two Super Bowls, multiple Pro Bowls, and a Defensive Player of the Year Award, you taught me the invaluable lesson of working hard and believing in myself.<\/p>\n
To my wife and kids, thank you for making it possible for me to chase my dreams.<\/p>\n
To my parents, thank you for raising me to be the man I am today.<\/p>\n
To my coaches, thank you for pouring into me.<\/p>\n
And to the fans\u2014thank you for your support. I have had an incredible 13 years in the League, and I cannot wait to see what this next chapter holds.<\/p>\n
GillyLock Out.<\/p>\n
Gilmore, 35, originally entered the NFL as a first-round draft pick by the Bills in 2012 out of South Carolina. Already a very good player during his five years in Buffalo, he took his game to a new level after joining the Patriots on a five-year, $65 million free agency contract in 2017.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Over his four seasons in New England, Gilmore appeared in 56 regular season games and seven playoff contests, registering a combined 13 interceptions \u2014 including the aforementioned pick against the Rams \u2014 and establishing himself as one of the top cornerbacks in the NFL. He was voted first-team All-Pro twice as a Patriot, named to three Pro Bowls, and in 2019 honored as the league\u2019s Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n
Even though his stint in Foxborough was relatively short and ended in a trade to Carolina in October 2021, he still left his mark on the Patriots. As a consequence, he was named to the organization\u2019s All-Decade Team of the 2010s.<\/p>\n
After leaving New England, Gilmore had one-year stints in Carolina, Indianapolis, Dallas and Minneapolis. He last appeared in an NFL game in January 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stephon Gilmore was an integral member of the New England Patriots\u2019 last championship, sealing the team\u2019s win over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[114378,229,7,2004,58,6337,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208,116516,9896,28220,12463],"class_list":{"0":"post-851003","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-christopher-hanewinckel-imagn","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-indianapolis","12":"tag-los-angeles-rams","13":"tag-mercedes-benz-stadium","14":"tag-new-england","15":"tag-new-england-patriots","16":"tag-newengland","17":"tag-newenglandpatriots","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-patriots","20":"tag-rock-hill-south-carolina","21":"tag-stephon-gilmore","22":"tag-super-bowl-liii","23":"tag-super-bowls"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116339880762930245","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}