13-year NFL veteran Vince Wilfork signed a one-day contract with the New England Patriots yesterday so he could officially retire as a member of the organization that he spent nearly all of his career with.
Wilfork, who was drafted by the Pats in 2004, played his first 11 seasons with New England before spending the last two years with the Houston Texans.
During an emotional retirement press conference yesterday, Wilfork spoke about how his parents never got to see him play a down in the NFL. Both of his parents died in 2002 while Wilfork was a sophomore at the University of Miami.
"My parents didn't get a chance to see their son live out a dream he told them at the age of 4 I was going to be," Wilfork said. "Physically it hurt every day. It hurt by the hour. Daily. Not a minute [went] by, but I know they had the best seat in the house."
According to ESPN,
"After a highlight montage of Wilfork's career, coach Bill Belichick said Wilfork is one of the best two-gapping defensive linemen to ever play in the NFL. He added that in his 43 years in the NFL, one of his biggest surprises was that Wilfork was available with the No. 21 overall pick, which is when the Patriots selected him in the 2004 draft."
The 35-year old, 5x Pro Bowl defensive tackle retired with 559 tackles, 16 sacks, four forced fumbles and three interceptions in 189 regular season games.
Check out a video clip from Wilfork's emotional retirement press conference below.