Cincinnati Bengals

Trevor Roach Tells Bengals, NFL Goodbye

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:20 p.m. ET

Fansided, Emile Pierce/FanSided via Stripe Hype

The Cincinnati Bengals’ Trevor Roach decided to hang up his cleats. Losing his love for the game was just one of his reasons for walking away.

Many names come to mind when the Cincinnati Bengals are mentioned. Superstars like A.J. Green, Tyler Eifert, and Vontaze Burfict are household names. But, the little-known players are the ones that often make up the fabric of football. Bengals’ linebacker Trevor Roach decided to call it quits, on Friday.

The game is one that can grab a player by the arms and pull them along for years. Football is a game that is sometimes bigger than life and puts undue pressure on the combatants. But, it’s the life they choose. Usually, the time frame is from five to 10 years. Barring injury, there are players who last longer. But, Roach is turning away at the ripe old age of twenty-four.

Roach woke up one morning and didn’t feel it anymore. The love he once had for the game had left him in a state of confusion. It was no longer something he considered fun.

“Once I realized I didn’t love football like I used to, it wasn’t worth going forward,” Roach explained, per Bengals.com. “The money’s good, but that’s not why I got into it. When I started showing up and it felt like work, that’s when I knew it was time.”

The Bengals’ linebacker put in most of his work on the practice squad. Now, he’s content to walk away and concentrate on what comes next. The fact that Roach hasn’t spent much time in the league is one reason he’s able to retire so early. But, he wasn’t willing to lose the love of another part of his life. His wife, Stephanie, is a nurse in Omaha. You, know. It’s that city that Peyton Manning was always shouting about.

Trevor Wants The Good Life

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Playing football can be exciting and new(Love Boat alert). But, spending extended amounts of time away from a spouse can cause serious problems. Roach has decided he wants no part of suffering another year away from his wife.

“She really loves her job and we would have been living apart again for a lot of the year,” Roach stated. “There were a couple of factors, but mainly it was falling out of love with it. And I want to start my own career and I’ve seen guys play for 10 years and have their bodies beat up and I didn’t want to do that.”

The 2015 Wild Card Game against the Steelers was his NFL coming out party. Sadly, that may have been the beginning of the end. Roach had talked to his mentor and decided to try one more year. He was convinced the Bengals had the juice to make the Super Bowl.

“I thought we had a chance to win it all, so I came back this year. I talked to my mentor and I told him, ‘I’m going to play again and try to come home with a ring.’ And he told me, ‘You already have the most important ring.’ My wedding ring.”

Roach had already soured on the game of football. He had made up his mind to make sure his off-field life wouldn’t suffer as well.