Jacob Tamme announces his retirement from NFL

Jacob Tamme, a fourth-round pick by the Indianapolis Colts in the 2008 who spent the first four seasons of his career in Indy, on Thursday announced his retirement from the NFL after nine total seasons.

Tamme would go on to play three years with the Denver Broncos and then played his final two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. In all, he played in 130 games with 36 starts, catching 259 passes for 2,570 yards and 14 touchdowns.

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The 32-year-old was an integrated strategic communications major in college and also received his MBA before entering the NFL. However, it’ll be interesting to see how he chooses to use that in retirement given that he earned just over $13.2 million during his playing career.

Tamme’s role was somewhat diminished during the first half of 2016 due to the additions of Mohamed Sanu and Taylor Gabriel at wide receiver, as well as rookie tight end Austin Hooper.

He remained a reliable safety valve for Ryan, but the offense didn’t seem to miss a beat after he went down.

Hooper emerged as a contributor with Tamme on the shelf, while Levine Toilolo also became a downfield threat at tight end by averaging over 20 yards per reception.

Tamme was set to hit free agency, and Atlanta likely could have brought him back at an affordable price, but with the by-committee approach of Hooper and Toilolo serving the team well, there wasn’t much reason to do so.

Since getting selected in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL draft out of Kentucky, Tamme has provided quality depth at tight end during all of his stops in the league.

He followed quarterback Peyton Manning from Indy to the Denver Broncos before ending up with the Falcons and finished his career with totals of 259 catches for 2,570 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Tamme never approached Pro Bowl levels of production and was unable to establish himself as a full-time starter, but he was a sure-handed pass-catcher and carved out a niche everywhere he went.

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