Not many choose to retire during the prime of their careers.Ali Marpet did.Marpet was at the top of his game when he decided to walk awayGettyThe former Tampa Bay Buccaneer was coming off a Pro Bowl year in 2021 when he chose to retire from the NFL, just one season removed from winning Super Bowl LV with Tom Brady.Marpet was at the peak of his powers and was considered one of the best guards in the entire league.The star offensive lineman had earned over $37 million over the course of his first seven seasons, all with Tampa Bay. He even chose to forgo another $20 million in the final two years of his contract by retiring when he did.At 28 years old, Marpet had decided that the wear and tear on his body just wasn’t worth the risk anymore.“The biggest reason for me was the physical toll. I didn’t want any more of that,” Marpet explained to the Guardian upon his retirement.“There were some things I wanted to accomplish in my career that I had done. I loved playing football, but one of my strongest values is health and if I’m really going to live out what’s important to me it doesn’t make sense to keep playing.“There are also the unknowns of the head trauma of the NFL and how that plays out. Plus, your joints, the aches and pains that come with surgeries and all that stuff.“Marpet has chosen a different career path, turning in his helmet for a stethoscope. He is currently studying for his doctorate in clinical psychology.If you talked to Marpet today, he would be hard to recognize, as he is no longer the intimidating 315-pound presence that he once was. Since retirement, he has shed 75 pounds, and is determined to live a healthier life, one that better suits him and his now 8-month-old daughter.“There’s kind of this disconnect between how I wanted to live my life and how I was required to live my life to be the best player I could be,” Marpet recently told the Tampa Bay Times.Marpet looks nothing like how he did when he played in the NFL at 300+ poundsGettyGettyMarpet had a very successful career, helping Brady and the Bucs win Super Bowl LV[/caption]“There are some people that can balance a little bit of both. But I’m so all-in, if I’m, like, 90% in on the NFL, it felt unfair to my teammates.“… It’s just not the way I can go about things. If there’s any aspect that I’m not in on in the NFL, it doesn’t feel good, and I didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel authentic for me to continue.”And so he didn’t. Marpet chose to listen to his mind and body rather than following the paycheck. A noble gesture that few would make.“I had years I could’ve kept going,” Marpet said. “But I’m really proud of how much I gave at the time I gave it.”He is now determined to live a healthier lifestyle, one that authentically suits him. And he’s doing it with zero regrets, not missing the days he would have to stuff his face in order to stay at his playing weight.“I was very deliberate in my approach,” Marpet explained. NFL's Greatest......Ranking the top 10......Quarterbacks of all-time – Can anyone better Tom Brady?Wide receivers of all-time – Does Randy Moss or Jerry Rice come out on top?Running backs of all-time – Stacking Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and moreTight ends of all-time – How does Travis Kelce compare?“I ate until I was never hungry. I watched ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ just to get myself hungry again. I would set alarms on my phone as reminders just to keep eating.“It started to slow down a little bit in the league, but as I was gaining that’s what I had to do to get there.”At the end of his seventh season, he knew that enough was enough.“My body was like, ‘Hey, you’re not supposed to do that,'” Marpet said. “I’m a bigger guy, but not that big.”The Super Bowl champion made sure to handle his retirement the right way and made sure that the only organization he ever called home had time to find his replacement and not surprise anybody.“One thing that was hard for me, I was talking to (general manager) Jason Licht and letting him know early that I was done,” Marpet said.“If it was up to me in isolation, I probably would’ve taken more time. But my years of fidelity to the team, even though I’m not going to be there, it was just a heads-up. I had to put them in the best position before free agency and the draft.”He is now on a new path, headed towards a new career in clinical psychology, with his health intact and family by his side.Just as Marpet always wanted.