PSU grad Urschel retires, choosing mathematics over Ravens

John Urschel had a choice between being a star football player or a math genius. After juggling those identities for the last few years, he’s chosen numbers over cleats.

Urschel, 26, a Penn State grad and offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens for three seasons,

on Thursday as training camp opened.

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“This morning John Urschel informed me of his decision to retire from football,” coach John Harbaugh

“We respect John and respect his decision. We appreciate his efforts over the past three years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Urschel graduated Penn State in 2012, less than three years after enrolling, with 4.0 grade-point average and a degree in mathematics. A year later, he earned his master’s, again with a 4.0 GPA, while also teaching trigonometry and geometry.

The Ravens drafted him in the fifth round and he became a solid member of the rotation and spot starter. He was expected to contend for their starting center position this season.

He’s currently a Ph.D. candidate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he gets straight A’s and has released several research papers.

Urschel’s

explains the work he’s doing there, including spectral graph theory, numerical PDE’s, matrix algebra, computational finance, mathematical physics and others.

He hasn’t made a statement explaining his decision, but it comes one day after a New York Times report revealing a study of the brains of 111 NFL players discovered all but one had CTE, the degenerative disease believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head.

Cox Media Group