{"id":808743,"date":"2026-07-18T18:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T18:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/808743\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T18:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T18:57:16","slug":"former-bills-and-steelers-star-announces-nfl-retirement-at-31-as-stars-lead-tributes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/808743\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Bills and Steelers star announces NFL retirement at 31 as stars lead tributes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Levi Wallace is officially walking away from football. <\/p>\n

The former NFL<\/a> cornerback, 31, took to Instagram Friday to announce his retirement from the league.<\/p>\n

\"Levi<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Wallace is hanging up his cleats after last playing for the Jaguars in 2025Credit: Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cWalk-on. Undrafted. 8 years. Retired,\u201d Wallace wrote.<\/p>\n

A number of current and former players commented on Wallace’s post, wishing him the best for the future.<\/p>\n

13-year NFL safety Jordan Poyer wrote: “My brother , the moments were special \u2764\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udd25 grateful for the time we had. Congratulations enjoy it all ! .. ahhh haaa haaaa”<\/p>\n

Ex-Green Bay Packers<\/a> and Buffalo Bills<\/a> DB Micah Hyde said: “My brother! Congrats!”.<\/p>\n

READ MORE NFL<\/p>\n

Denver Broncos<\/a> superstar cornerback Pat Surtain II commented: “Congrats my guy ! Earned not given \ud83d\udcaf”<\/p>\n

Wide receiver Diontae Johnson, Tennessee Titans QB Mitch Trubisky, and Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> defensive tackle Cam Heyward also posted their congratulations.<\/p>\n

Wallace attended Tucson High School in Tucson, Arizona, where he played football and track and field.<\/p>\n

He was then was a walk-player at Alabama in college<\/a> after his father, who suffered from ALS, convinced him to try out for a spot on the Crimson Tide football team.<\/p>\n

Wallace was successful, and in 2018 recorded 48 total tackles, 15 pass break-ups, three interceptions and two sacks.<\/p>\n

He won two national championships as a member of the Crimson Tide, and was a starter during the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship game when Alabama beat Georgia 26\u201323 in overtime.<\/p>\n

\"Levi<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

The former defensive back played for the Bills, Steelers and BroncosCredit: Getty\"Levi<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

\u201cWalk-on. Undrafted. 8 years. Retired,\u201d Wallace wrote, announcing his plansCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

Wallace went undrafted in that year’s NFL Draft<\/a> but eventually joined the Bills as an undrafted rookie free agent and quickly became a potent weapon in Sean McDermott\u2019s defense. <\/p>\n

Wallace appeared in 52 games of his 72 career NFL games with the Bills from 2018 to 2021, all of which were starts.<\/p>\n

However, his time in Buffalo came to a disappointing end. His final game for the Bills was the infamous ’13 seconds’ loss to the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> in the 2021 AFC Divisional Round.<\/p>\n

After racking up 219 tackles, 30 pass break-ups and six interceptions during his time in Buffalo, Wallace signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Steelers.<\/p>\n

In the 2022 season, he appeared in 15 games and started nine. He finished with 48 total tackles, a career-high four interceptions, and 13 passes defended.<\/p>\n

Over the past two seasons, Wallace had brief stints with the Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He was placed on injured reserve by the Jags on August 9, 2025, and was released four days later.<\/p>\n

It would turn out to be his last action with an NFL squad, with his retirement now confirmed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Levi Wallace is officially walking away from football. The former NFL cornerback, 31, took to Instagram Friday to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[634,64,63,13246,383531,383529,5366,383533,383532,1261,50716,1256,596,6246,1237,383535,23168,383534,383525,383526,383527,55557,593,9519,357770,1232,1241,85,5350,383530,383528],"class_list":["post-808743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-american-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bills","tag-bills-latest","tag-bills-news","tag-broncos","tag-broncos-latest","tag-broncos-news","tag-buffalo-bills","tag-cam-heyward","tag-denver-broncos","tag-football","tag-football-news","tag-jacksonville-jaguars","tag-jagaurs-latest","tag-jaguars","tag-jaguars-new","tag-levi-wallace","tag-levi-wallace-retirement","tag-levi-wallace-retiring","tag-mitch-trubisky","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-news","tag-nfl-retirement","tag-nfl-training-camp","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-sports","tag-steelers","tag-steelers-latest","tag-steelers-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}