Dallas Cowboys’ backup quarterback Jon Kitna to retire from the NFL – NFL News Update
Dallas Cowboys backup quarterback, Jon Kitna, is contemplating retirement and has informed the franchise about his plans,
The Dallas Morning News reported on Thursday, January 12, 2012.
The Cowboys placed Kitna on injured reserves near the end of the regular National Football League (NFL) season, due to a back injury.
Kitna, 39, has spent three years at Dallas and served as a backup for Tony Romo.
He started his professional career in the European version of the NFL and led the Barcelona Dragons to a victory in the World Bowl Championship.
Jon Kitna joined Seattle Seahawks in 1997 for his first season in the American national major league.
He spent three years at Seattle and signed a contract with Cincinnati Bengals as an unrestricted free agent.
Five years later, Kitna moved to Detroit and served with the Lions for three years before finally joining the Cowboys.
Kitna has completed a total of 2,677 passes in the NFL of 4,442 attempts for 29,745 yards and has 169 touchdowns and 165 interceptions to his name.
His time with the Lions is considered to be the best of his career.
In 2006, he played all the 16 games for the Lions and completed 372 passes of 596 attempts for career-high 4,208 yards.
The next year, Jon Kitna registered 4,068 yards.
Kitna sat out of most of the games while playing for the Cowboys. However, he started nine games while playing 10 in the 2010 season.
He completed 209 passes of 319 attempts for 2,365 yards and threw 16 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
Due to his experience, Kitna was often seen talking to the younger players and motivating them during the practice sessions.
Even Romo used to turn to him to get advice.
While giving an interview during the regular season, he urged the younger players to be prepared for any opportunity that presents itself.
“A lot of those guys came into the league the same way I did - late-round draft picks or weren't drafted - and you can get settled into your role sometimes. My message to them was, 'Don't settle into a role, because you might only get one opportunity. Not
only might that be your only opportunity individually, but that's the opportunity that might be the difference between us winning and losing, so you've got to be ready'," Jon Kitna said.
Jon Kitna’s absence will certainly be felt, but it is in his own interest to retire from the sport at this age, and give a chance to newer and younger players.
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