Detroit Lions cornerback Rashean Mathis announced his retirement from the NFL last week.
While still a productive player on the field at the age of 35, Mathis’ importance off the field to some of the Lions’ young cornerbacks was what he was best known for.
Young cornerbacks Darius Slay and Quandre Diggs were quick to take to Twitter thanking Mathis for helping them along early in their careers after his retirement announcement on detroitlions.com.
Slay, who is entering his fourth season in the league, is suddenly the elder statesman of the current cornerback group under contract in Detroit.