Former Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers and New Orleans Saints cornerback Chris Harris Jr. announced his retirement Tuesday after 12 NFL seasons.

The 34-year-old Harris, who went unsigned last season and this offseason, told Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette that while he wanted to play a 13th season, he decided to call it quits due to a lack of interest from NFL teams.

"I just waited a year and I stayed in shape, but I realized that everybody was pretty much moving on with the younger players, the younger wave," Harris said. "So I thought it would be great to just call it an end."

Harris retires as a four-time Pro Bowler, one-time First Team All-Pro, one-time Super Bowl champion and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's All-Decade Team for the 2010s.

Given his many career accomplishments, Harris expressed contentment with his decision to step away from football:

"I was able to accomplish pretty much everything. The only award I didn't win was Defensive Player of the Year. Getting All-Decade was the top thing. I feel definitely blessed, especially coming in as undrafted. I pretty much had to fight through all my career and being able to overcome that, that's one thing I'm definitely happy for."

After starring collegiately at Kansas, Harris was not selected in the 2011 NFL draft, but he signed with the Broncos as a free agent and made the roster as an undrafted rookie.

Harris spent his first nine seasons in Denver and enjoyed his greatest success with the Broncos, establishing himself as a starter in his second campaign.

From 2014 to 2018, Harris was named a Pro Bowler in four of five seasons, and he earned a First Team All-Pro selection in 2016 after recording 63 tackles, 11 passes defended and two interceptions.

One season earlier, the Broncos won the Super Bowl, and the defense led by Harris and pass-rushers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware was the biggest reason why.

Following the 2019 season, Harris signed a free-agent deal with the Chargers and spent the next two years in Los Angeles. He played his final NFL season in 2022, appearing in 10 games for the Saints.

Overall, Harris played in 172 career regular-season games, starting 145 of them. In those games, he registered 621 tackles, 97 passes defended, seven forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and 22 interceptions, four of which were returned for touchdowns.

Harris never had more than three interceptions in a single season, but that is primarily because he was a lockdown corner who quarterbacks shied away from testing.

He was undoubtedly one of the best defensive backs of his era, and after helping the Broncos win a Super Bowl, he will forever be viewed as a legend in franchise history.

ncG1vNJzZmianJqupLTEq6meqJ%2BnwW%2BvzqZmmqqknrCtsdJoaGlpYW5%2FdISMnJ%2BroaNitaK%2B0aKqZqKiYr%2BmwMirnKxllqe8rnnNn6Nmr5%2BjerTBz56pZpqfrLluw8itn2aaoqS7pLvSZqSanJVigW680ahkm6enocA%3D