Could-Have-Been Titans Star Retires

The Tennessee Titans were not exactly hurting for tight ends over the past nine seasons.

Delanie Walker set franchise records and made multiple Pro Bowl appearances. Jonnu Smith developed into a high-profile, highly paid free agent. And others such as Craig Stevens (in the later years of his career), Anthony Fasano and – recently – Anthony Firsker have made notable contributions in their own ways.

Always, though, there was a sense of what might have been in the person of Jack Doyle, who announced his retirement Monday. Doyle, 31, played 131 games (84 starts) and caught 295 passes for 2,729 yards and 24 touchdowns – all as a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

It was the Titans who gave Doyle his first NFL opportunity when they signed him in 2013 as an undrafted free agent out of Western Kentucky University. Ultimately, though, he ranks among the likes of running back LeGarrette Blount (2010), who retired in 2020, and defensive lineman Antwaun Woods (2016) as undrafted rookies with the Titans who became stars elsewhere.

Doyle led all Tennessee tight ends with six receptions, 56 receiving yards and one touchdown catch in the 2013 preseason but failed to make the season-opening roster. Instead, the team stuck with Walker, in his first season with the Titans, Stevens and Taylor Thompson, a fifth-round draft pick in 2012.

Franchise officials hoped to sign Doyle to the practice squad, but the Colts claimed him off waivers and he immediately found a professional home in the city where he was raised. Doyle appeared in two Pro Bowls (2017, 2019) and ranked 16th among all NFL tight ends in receptions over the past nine years.

“Getting the chance to play 9 seasons for the team I have always and will always cheer for has been a dream come true,” Doyle said, in part, in a statement released by the team. “It is something that is hard to describe. I now go back to being the fan I have always been and retiring from the great game of football. I have a deep love for the game of football.

“I took pride in playing the game the right way and always leaving everything I had on the field. I have a deep respect for the dedication and commitment it takes to be out there for your teammates. At this time, my body is telling me that is a sacrifice I can no longer make.”

Doyle rarely missed an opportunity to make the Titans second-guess their decision to pass on him. In 16 career games against them he caught 48 passes for 451 yards and five touchdowns. He had eight games with seven or more receptions – three of them against the Titans. He set then-career-highs with nine receptions an 78 receiving yards – and scored a touchdown that put Indianapolis ahead to stay – in a 34-26 victory at Nissan Stadium in 2016. Those numbers still rank second and fifth, respectively, in his career.