Packers' 22-game starter retires from NFL at age 30
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Packers' 22-game starter retires from NFL at age 30 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
From an undrafted player to a guy who started 22 games for the Green Bay Packers and later played for the Carolina Panthers -- that's not a bad journey.
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And now, retirement is the next step at age 30.
Yosh Nijman is retiring from the NFL, it was announced on Wednesday.
Free agent OT Yosh Nijman, who most recently was with the Panthers and began his career with the Packers, announced he is retiring from the NFL at age 30. pic.twitter.com/4rPr2dzzVX
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 12, 2026
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Rather than pursue a new contract in free agency, Nijman decided his time had come.
Originally from Maplewood, New Jersey, Nijman played his college football at Virginia Tech.
At 6-foot-7 and 314 pounds, Nijman was always an imposing presence, but he went undrafted.
The Packers saw something in him and snagged him before the 2020 season. He played 16 games that year at tackle but didn't start at all.
He appeared in all 17 games in 2021 and started eight of them.
Nijman got 13 more starts (17 games) in 2022, then one additional Green Bay start out of 17 games in 2023.
He moved on to the Carolina Panthers for the past two seasons, playing in 32 games and starting seven of them.
So all told, 99 NFL games with 29 starts.
For an undrafted lineman, that's a strong journey.
Now, Nijman will hope to take that perseverance into the next chapter of his life.
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