Giants' Darren Waller Retires from NFL After Health Scare and Divorce from Kelsey Plum

 NFL tight end Darren Waller is retiring, as confirmed by CBS Sports. The 31-year-old, who played for the Ravens, Raiders, and one season with the Giants, has been missing from Organized Team Activities this offseason.

"We have great respect for Darren as a person and player. We wish him nothing but the best," the Giants said in a statement.

Waller explained his retirement in a YouTube video, revealing that he got very sick in November, which left him shaking, unable to breathe, and in the hospital for three and a half days.

"I almost lost my life, and it made me rethink things," Waller said in the video. "I've decided to retire from the NFL."

Waller was picked in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. He struggled with drug addiction early in his career and was suspended for the entire 2017 season for breaking the league's substance abuse rules.

"I didn't really value myself," Waller told NFL Films about that time in his life. "I knew I needed to change, but it seemed too hard, and I wasn't ready to do the work."

After rehab and a job stocking shelves at a grocery store, Waller returned to the NFL. His best years were with the Raiders, both in Oakland and Las Vegas. In 2019 and 2020, he had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and made the Pro Bowl in 2020.

Waller also made headlines for his on-and-off relationship with Las Vegas sports star Kelsey Plum. They got married in 2023 but filed for divorce in April.

"I'm devastated," Plum, who plays for the Las Vegas Aces, posted on social media the day of the filing. "I went through a lot for that man, but now I see it's time to move on."

Waller, the great-grandson of jazz composer Thomas "Fats" Waller, has been exploring other passions. He released a music video at the end of May called "Who Knew (Her Perspective)." In it, a woman who looks like Plum stabs Waller in the back, leaving him for dead on a beach.

"I have many passions and ways of expressing myself," Waller said in his retirement video. "I often outgrow certain passions. The worst thing for someone like me is to think I have to choose one path and stick to it like most people do."