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During the heat of battle in an NFL game, all players involved are often encouraged to come together and stick beside their fellow brothers in an effort to pick up the victory. Oftentimes, that is exactly what happens.
Win, lose or draw, the arduous and unpredictable road of an NFL season is faced head-on by a team that continually bans together. Yet, in other circumstances, the team’s become fractured. Frustration on the sidelines due to a combination of poor play or an ongoing locker room feud has forced certain player's hands.
As the onlooking crowd looks incredulously onto the field and notices that a certain player has had enough and storms off, they're normally left shellshocked by what took place. It doesn't happen often, but there are a handful of times when players have reached their breaking point on the field. But which players laced through NFL history decided that it would be in their best interest to leave the field during the middle of the game? And, more importantly, what was their reasoning behind the move? Let’s find out.
Who are the 3 NFL players that called it quits during a game?
#3 Vontae Davis
Vontae Davis flashed an effervescent smile whenever he walked onto the football field. The former first-round draft pick worked hard during the offseason, and it showed time and time again on the field.
With his game truly growing and maturing, Davis was finally named to two Pro Bowls during the latter stages of his career. After playing for the Indianapolis Colts for nine seasons, Davis inked his name on the dotted line to swap jerseys and play for the Buffalo Bills in 2018. At the time, the decision felt right, but ultimately, Davis’ time in Buffalo was transient.
In only the second game of the season, the Bills found themselves getting completely outclassed by the LA Chargers. The score heading into halftime was 28-6. But with most Bills players believing that they had a chance to turn it around, they were completely baffled when they stepped onto the field in the second half and noticed that Davis was no longer on the field. Baffled turned to shock when they came to the realization that Davis was no longer in the building as well.
Davis, who was 30 at the time, had suddenly lost his passion for the game of football. No longer was he willing to lay his body on the line for his teammates in an effort to win. While Davis could have continued to finish the game and the season, he opted to retire during halftime, a decision he says was one of his best moves ever.
#2 Antonio Brown
Antonio Brown’s reputation in the NFL world was crumbling before his very eyes following the 2018 season. After once being known as a great and dependable receiver who was capable of taking over a game at a moment’s notice, Brown’s penchant for both off and on-the-field drama had become well-publicized.
With the peculiar receiver bouncing from team to team, he found an unlikely home with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. During his first season, everything went swimmingly. Brown played a crucial role in Tampa, helping lead them to a Super Bowl victory in 2020. But while the atypical receiver failed to make any unwanted headlines in year one, year two was an entirely different story.
During the tail end of the 2021 season, the Buccaneers were locked in a back and forth battle against the lowly New York Jets. Although everything appeared fine, Brown suddenly ripped off his helmet, removed his jersey, and began hyping up the crowd while he stormed off the field. His antics cost him big time as he was cut just hours later.
Since then, countless stories have emerged in terms of why Brown decided to suddenly leave the field,from Brown claiming he was too injured to continue to Tampa personnel revealing that Brown griped over a lack of targets. Regardless of it all, however, Brown continues to find himself jobless as he currently sits unwanted in the free agency market.
#1 Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace became enraged as overthrown balls sailed clear over his head and underthrown passes fell aimlessly at his feet. As a member of the Miami Dolphins, Wallace simply grew sick and tired of dealing with the inept play of quarterback Ryan Tannehill. So, with Miami playing their final game of the season against the New York Jets in 2014, Wallace decided against playing in the second half.
In fact, Wallace left the field before the first half came to an end and refused to play another snap with Tannehill as his QB.
With Wallace no longer on the field, the Dolphins would go on to lose in front of their faithful fans in the final game of the season by 13 points. While Wallace’s actions were held him against until he retired in 2018, as we peek at Tannehill’s stat line, we completely understand where he was coming from.
The enigmatic QB completed just 23 of his 39 pass attempts for 208 yards and a single touchdown. Unsurprisingly, Wallace played elsewhere the following season.
