Patriots Super Bowl Champion Announces Retirement From NFL
The football career of former New England Patriots running back Rex Burkhead officially has come to an end.
Burkhead, who won a Super Bowl title with the Patriots during his four-year stint with the franchise, announced his retirement from the NFL on social media Monday afternoon.
The 33-year-old played 10 NFL seasons with his final campaign coming in 2022 with the Houston Texans.
“To all my coaches, strength coaches, trainers, doctors, ownership, and other staff thank you for the opportunities to live out my childhood dream and making sure I was performing to the best of my abilities,” Burkhead wrote. “It was a privilege to go to work every day with you all. To my teammates, thank you for the friendships and memories we shared. It was an honor to play alongside you all and compete together on a daily basis.”
After four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals to begin his career, Burkhead signed with the Patriots on a one-year deal before the 2017 campaign, but proved his worth as a reliable backup running back to stick around with New England for three more seasons.
Burkhead played 41 regular-season games with the Patriots, compiling 1,026 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns to go along with 96 receptions for 856 yards and seven touchdowns.
Burkhead’s biggest contributions came in New England’s 2018 Super Bowl title run. He ran for 41 yards on 12 carries and scored two touchdowns, including the game-winning score in overtime in a wild 37-31 road victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.
Burkhead also helped put the Los Angeles Rams away in Super Bowl LIII with seven carries for 43 yards. All three of New England’s running backs from that game — Burkhead, Sony Michel and James White — are now retired.
Burkhead finished his career playing two seasons in Houston in which he appeared in 32 games for the Texans.