Marion Barber has flipped out. Upon hearing the news that the Bears signed Michael Bush, he didn’t take to the Twitter-verse. Instead, the 28-year old running back decided to retire. Here’s Barber from the Bears’ website:
"“I want to thank everyone who gave me the opportunity to play, and I’m very thankful to have had the chance to suit up for two of the NFL’s most storied organizations,” Barber said.“I want to thank everyone who helped me become a better player,” Barber said. “I owe a lot to a lot of coaches, and am also very grateful to the owners and organizations I played for. Last but not least, I want to thank the fans for the support and inspiration they gave me.”"
Barber tallied 6 TD’s and 422 yards on 114 attempts for the Bears in his 11 games that he played with them last season. But he will be remembered for what he failed to do than what he did do while in Chicago. He failed to stay in bounds while the Bears were set to run out the clock in Denver and then failed to hang onto the ball in overtime when the Bears were setting up to kick a winning field goal. Those plays pretty much sealed the fate of the 2011 Bears and sealed Barber’s fate in Chicago.
Barber’s retirement saves the Bears about $2 million in cap space.
In honor of his early retirement, here’s a clip of another “too-young-to-retire” character, Cosmo Kramer. Sorry, I’m a Seinfeld dork.