Detroit Lions defensive end Pat O’Connor has decided to walk away from professional football, announcing his retirement from the NFL on Thursday.
The 32-year-old appeared in eight games for Detroit last season, including three starts. He recorded 10 tackles, logging 21% of the team’s defensive snaps — 106 total — and 64% of special teams snaps, which amounted to 143 plays.
O’Connor’s NFL journey began when Detroit selected him in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Eastern Michigan. The Lions released him from their practice squad in September of that year, and he went on to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Over the course of his career with both Tampa Bay (2017, 2019-2024) and Detroit (2024-25), O’Connor appeared in 88 regular-season games with three starts, finishing with 52 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and seven tackles for loss.
Among the highlights of his career was being part of the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl championship team during the 2020 season. He also saw playoff action with Tampa Bay in both 2022 and 2023.
O’Connor took to Instagram to reflect on what his career meant to him. “If you had told my younger self that I’d play this long, spend my entire career with just two teams, get drafted, and win a Super Bowl, he would have called you crazy,” he wrote. “But here we are.”
