In a statement released by the team, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said Urschel had informed him of the decision Thursday morning.
“We respect John and respect his decision,” Harbaugh said. “We appreciate his efforts over the past three years and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”
He earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mathematics from Penn State and is currently working on his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), studying spectral graph theory, numerical linear algebra and machine learning.
In 2013, Urschel taught trigonometry and analytic geometry in the spring semester at Penn State and integral vector calculus during the fall semester. He also has had papers published, including one titled “Cascadic Multigrid Algorithm for Computing the Fiedler Vector,” which appeared in the Journal of Computational Mathematics.
In addition to his football and math talents, Urschel also is an aspiring chess master. He played chess against US champion Fabiano Caruana at the 2016 Genius Gala at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Urschel, listed in the Ravens team bio at 6 feet, 3 inches and 300 pounds, played college football at Penn State and was selected by the Ravens in the fifth round (175th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft.
“Objectively, I shouldn’t,” he wrote. “I have a bright career ahead of me in mathematics. I have the means to make a good living and provide for my family, without playing football. I have no desire to try to accumulate $10 million in the bank; I already have more money in my bank account than I know what to do with.”
He later added: “I play because I love the game. I love hitting people. There’s a rush you get when you go out on the field, lay everything on the line and physically dominate the player across from you. This is a feeling I’m (for lack of a better word) addicted to, and I’m hard-pressed to find anywhere else.”
Urschel, who is from Buffalo, New York, played in all 16 of the Ravens’ games last season, starting seven at center.
