Tuesday morning brought the surprising news that running back Rashaad Penny had elected to retire.
Penny, 28, had signed with the Panthers with hopes of being an offensive contributor under first-year head coach Dave Canales. The two were familiar with one another from their shared time on the Seahawks.
But instead, Canales relayed that Penny expressed on Monday that his body just wasn’t feeling right.
“It was a really cool opportunity for me to see — I know Rashaad at his best — to see if we could get him to that kind of look,” Canales said in his Tuesday press conference. “And he came up and he just really, he felt like he wasn’t himself and I had to respect that going forward.
“I don’t understand what that’s like, to have a feel, to have a vision and wanting your body to do exactly what you tell it to do and just not responding the right way. For sure, I was glad to be a part of this process with him because I’ve known him for so long. And I wish Rashaad the best.”
Penny’s best season was in 2021 when he rushed for 749 yards with six touchdowns, averaging 6.3 yards per carry. But he’s had trouble staying healthy throughout his career, as he did not play more than 10 games in a season after his rookie year.