Wes Horton announces retirement

Feb 04, 2020 at 03:02 PM

Panthers defensive end Wes Horton announced his retirement from football in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

View this post on Instagram

Just a quick update for all the family, friends, and fans of mine. I’ve been back and forth on my future playing football and after coming to a conclusion I will be stepping away from the game of football. I’ve made this decision off two reasons. The first is my overall health. The little injuries I’ve accumulated over the years have finally caught up to me and when weighing the risk, I’d rather preserve what’s left of my body. Second reason being the conviction Christ has put on my heart to help teach and mentor the next generation. All my life has been about me and what I needed to do to find personal success. I believe I found that success as a undrafted rookie playing 7 seasons and at one point being tied for the most sack fumbles in the NFL. With all that being said, I will be coaching the defensive line at my high school Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks. I plan on bring G2X to the high school level to help these next generation of rushers. I want to thank Coach Washington, Sam Mills, Ryan Neilson, Ed Ogeron, Jethro Franklin, Nick Holt, and Anthony Vitale along with all the friends and family that helped me get to where I got. And lastly to all the Wes Horton fans. The real ones who didn’t see me as a flashy, big name player but saw that I came to work every Sunday with the intention of be great. Wesso, over and out 🤙🏽

A post shared by Wes Horton (@wesso_96) on Feb 4, 2020 at 8:18am PST

Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by Carolina in 2013, Horton played six seasons with the Panthers before signing with New Orleans last offseason and then finishing the 2019 season back in Carolina. He played in 83 career games with 38 starts.

Horton finished his career with 15.5 sacks, including a career-best 5.5 sacks in Carolina's playoff season in 2017. That year, he also had a career-best three forced fumbles which led the Panthers and ranked fifth among defensive ends that season.

Originally from Sherman Oaks, California and a product of Southern Cal, Horton was active in the Charlotte community working as a mentor with The Academy of Goal Achievers (T.A.G.A.), an organization dedicated to developing youth leaders to impact their communities.