“After spending a great deal of time talking to my family and prayerfully considering what’s next in my career, I have a made the difficult decision to step away from the NFL at this time,” Dumervil wrote on Twitter. “It’s been an incredible 12-year run.”
Dumervil played in all 16 games last season, recording 13 tackles and a team-high 6.5 sacks after signing with the San Francisco 49ers on June 6, 2017.
“My body still feels great,” the 34-year-old Dumervil wrote in the post, “and I know I can still help a team win. I will miss being on the field, particularly on Sundays. But I also have a wife and two young children who need me and a real estate business that I can now turn my attention to full-time.
“Football was certainly a huge part of my life but it wasn’t my entire life. I look forward to my next chapter with no regrets.”
Dumervil finished with 105.5 sacks, which is 26th on the all-time list. Dumervil recorded a pair of 17-sack seasons — one each with the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens.
A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Dumervil recorded 365 tackles, 23 forced fumbles, 13 fumble recoveries and one interception in 162 career contests with the Broncos (2006-12), Ravens (2013-16) and 49ers (2017).
Dumervil, who was a fourth-round pick of the Broncos in the 2006 NFL Draft, was named a first-team All-Pro selection on two occasions.