Will Grier’s football journey has come to an end.
The former West Virginia standout quarterback officially retired from the NFL on Wednesday after seven seasons in the league, according to a post from the Carolina Panthers’ official X account that linked to the announcement.
Grier entered the NFL as the 100th overall pick in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft by Carolina. Over the course of his pro career, he also spent time with the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles.
His NFL résumé was short on starting chances. Grier made only two starts in the league, both with the Panthers in 2019, and they came in a difficult spot late in the season for a team simply trying to finish the year. In those two games, he threw for 288 yards with four interceptions and completed 53.8 percent of his passes.
Before reaching the NFL, Grier’s college path took a major turn after he learned he would be suspended for the entire 2016 season. The suspension stemmed from a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs, and Grier said he was unaware of the banned substance contained in a separate substance he had been taking. After transferring to West Virginia and sitting out that season, he won the starting job to open 2017 and held onto it.
Once he got rolling in Morgantown, Grier put up big numbers. He passed for 3,490 yards and 36 touchdowns in his junior season before a broken finger against Texas cut that year short. He was a perfect fit for Dana Holgorsen’s air raid attack, and West Virginia struggled without him.
He came back for his senior year and was even better, finishing with 3,864 yards and 37 touchdowns. Grier entered the season as the preseason Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and finished with second-team All-Big 12 honors in 2017, a notable achievement considering Kyler Murray, who would win the Heisman Trophy in 2018, was a first-team selection.
Grier never really got much of a runway as an NFL starter. Still, his West Virginia career leaves him as one of the most productive quarterbacks the program has ever had, and after seven professional seasons with six teams, his playing days are over.
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