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Justin Tuck announced his retirement from the NFL at the end of the 2015 season, leaving behind a career filled with numerous accolades and achievements. On top of personal glory, Tuck made an impact on those he played with as was evident in the Oakland Raiders’ greatly-improved defense.
Tuck was taken by the New York Giants in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft with the hopes that he’d become their next Michael Strahan. No one could really take the place of Strahan but Tuck was still a beast on the Giants’ defensive line for an entire decade. From 2007-10, he was one of the league’s most intimidating linemen, compiling 39.5 sacks and forcing 16 fumbles. During his All-Pro season in 2008, Tuck finished with a career-high 12 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception that he returned for a touchdown.
He and the rest of those vaunted Giants defenses got the best of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots during their victories in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, both times as major underdogs. And through the years, Tuck was able to pass down his wisdom to several teammates, including Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul.
The last two years of Justin Tuck's career were spent in a new location with the Raiders. Though he was well past his prime when they brought him in, Oakland knew that Tuck could provide championship experience to a team so desperate to return to its glory days.
Even though his production wasn’t anywhere close to what it was when he was haunting quarterbacks’ dreams as a member of the Giants, he was still able to help groom Khalil Mack into a monster. Mack finished his second NFL season with 15 sacks, second in the NFL behind J.J. Watt. It’s no secret that Tuck’s words and wisdom helped Mack maximize his potential, and the Raiders are better off for having welcomed Tuck to the Silver and Black.
Tuck was one of the finest competitor’s the NFL has ever seen. He was a champion on the field as well as off of it. He was Oakland’s Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee in 2015 because of the TUCK’S R.U.S.H. for Literacy campaign he and his wife began in 2008 that sought to improve literacy amongst the youth.
Though he will no longer suit up on Sundays, Tuck’s legacy will still be seen through guys like Pierre-Paul and Mack, and his professionalism and commitment to making the world a better place will be found in classrooms all across the country.
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