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Emmanuel Sanders used to play football and was really good at catching the ball. He started with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010, where he caught 28 passes for 376 yards and scored two touchdowns. He even played in a big game called the Super Bowl with them! Pretty cool, right?
After that, Sanders joined the Denver Broncos in 2014 and stayed there for more than five seasons. He got a shiny Super Bowl ring with them too! But in 2019, he moved to the San Francisco 49ers during the season, and once again, he found himself playing in another Super Bowl. Unfortunately, they lost to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Sanders also played for the Saints and Bills before hanging up his cleats. Over his career, he made 704 catches, ran for 9,245 yards, and scored 51 touchdowns. He was a Pro Bowl star with the Broncos twice and went to the playoffs with every team he played for. Quite the resume!
On a recent talk show, Sanders shared why he decided to retire. It turns out, it was because of one particular game against Patrick Mahomes that changed everything for him.
.@ESanders_10 relives Patrick Mahomes forcing OT in the AFC Championship with 13 seconds left 🤢
— The Facility (@TheFacilityFS1) December 6, 2024
"I retired after that game. He's the reason I'm up here right now." 😅😂 pic.twitter.com/GwJgnDDzqy
Just to clarify, Sanders’ retirement wasn’t caused by a game from the AFC Championship but rather from a dramatic playoff match in 2021 against Kansas City. In that game, Josh Allen threw a touchdown pass with just 13 seconds left, giving Sanders’ team a lead.
But Mahomes had other plans. With those precious seconds ticking away, he managed to get his team into field goal range. Harrison Butker nailed a 49-yard kick to tie the game, and then Mahomes threw a touchdown pass in overtime to secure victory for Kansas City.
That nail-biting loss was the moment Sanders realized it was time to step away from the game. Meanwhile, Mahomes and his Chiefs have their sights set on making history by aiming for three consecutive Super Bowl wins.
