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Chase Winovich announces retirement from the NFL

CBS News Live
CBS News Pittsburgh Live

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Chase Winovich has announced he's calling it a career after playing in the NFL for five years. 

In a social media post, Winovich announced he was retiring from playing football, saying that it's been a wild 21 years and the time has come for him to serve the universe in other ways. 

Winovich said that he was taught at young age that he believed he could do anything that he set his mind to and that if he wanted something bad enough, he would find a way -- which for him, was making his way to play football at the highest level.  

He also said he considers himself 'beyond blessed and deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to play the game I love in front of so many people on the world's biggest stages.'

Winovich played his high school football at Thomas Jefferson from 2010 to 2013.

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Chase Winovich walks down the field with his former high school football coach Bill Cherpak during a Thomas Jefferson High School playoff football game in 2019.  Mike Darnay/Mon Valley Independent

After graduating from Thomas Jefferson, Winovich went on to play college football at the University of Michigan. 

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ANN ARBOR, MI - OCTOBER 13: Chase Winovich #15 of the Michigan Wolverines leaves the field celebrating a 38-13 victory over the Wisconsin Badgers on October 13, 2018 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

He was drafted into the NFL by the New England Patriots in 2019. 

Winovich spent three years playing for Bill Belichick and the Patriots before being traded to Cleveland in the spring of 2022.

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Defensive end Cam Heyward and defensive end Chase Winovich shake hands following the fame between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns on January 8th, 2023 at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.  Mike Darnay/KDKA

Earlier this year, Winovich signed a one-year deal with the Houston Texans, but was released before the start of the regular season. 

He was then signed to the Dolphins' practice squad, playing in three games for Miami before being released last week.

"The journey has just begun!," Winovich said in closing of his statement released on social media. 

Good luck in retirement, Chase! 

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