Former NFL Pro Bowl Player Details Gruesome Toll Injuries Took On Him Before Retirement

Terron Armstead retired from the NFL earlier this year at the age of 33 after 12 seasons in the trenches, and based on his recent admissions about the beating his body took, it's incredible he managed to play at the highest level for so long.

After spending the first nine seasons of his career with the New Orleans Saints, injuries began to mount for the five-time Pro Bowl player in the last few years of his career before officially closing things out as a Miami Dolphin. 

While practically every former NFL player is dealing with some sort of ailment towards the end of his career, Armstead dealt with a knee injury for about a decade. It wasn't just your typical nagging injury, either, it was one that would keep him off his feet for days after playing a game.

"I’ve been dealing with a knee since my third year in the league," he recently told the ‘Nightcap Show.’ "I didn’t see a practice field at all, and not because I didn’t want to or the Dolphins just wanted me to rest. It’s like I literally couldn’t walk. 

After a game on Sunday, I wouldn’t be able to walk on my own, under my own power, until Wednesday, Thursday. So I was only able to play under the pain meds. I couldn’t put any pressure on my knee, so it was like, I can’t keep doing that to myself."

Countless former and even current NFL players have talked about not being able to get their bodies right until the Tuesday or Wednesday following a Sunday game, especially late in the season, but not being able to walk on your own power until as late as Thursday is some next-level gruesomeness.

Add in his admission that he couldn't play unless he was on pain meds, and you get an even more unfortunate picture.

Armstead earned just shy of $116 million during his NFL career. That's not a bad chunk of change for anyone, but it's especially strong for a former third-round pick out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.