Three-time All-Pro linebacker Shaquille Leonard is retiring as a member of the Indianapolis Colts, the team announced Wednesday.
Leonard will address Colts fans at halftime of Indianapolis game against the Las Vegas Raiders this Sunday and he will be the team's anvil striker before kickoff.
"I'm excited he's retiring a Colt," coach Shane Steichen said Wednesday. "I mean he was the ultimate guy [at] taking the football away, punching that ball out. He played relentless. Just a ton of respect for him. Me and him still talk. He'll text me every couple of weeks or every month and we text back and forth and he's wishing us luck. So, just excited for him retiring a Colt and just a ton of respect for him as a player."
Leonard, 30, played most of his six-season career with the Colts, who selected him in the second round of the 2018 draft out of South Carolina State. He was named the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2018 when he led the NFL in tackles (163) and solo tackles (111) and was named first team All-Pro.
For the next three seasons he posted more than 120 tackles each season, was named to three Pro Bowls and was named first-team All-Pro two more times (2020 and 2021). He led the NFL with eight forced fumbles in 2021.
However, he was limited to three games in 2022 due to injuries and underwent two back surgeries to address nerve issues that were causing lower-body pain. He called it the "hardest year of my life."
He returned to action in 2023 but was released by the Colts in November that season after he expressed frustration about diminished playing time. He was so well regarded in Indianapolis for his stellar play and his work in the community that the team gave him an in-game tribute at Lucas Oil Stadium as he watched from a suite the week after his release.
In 70 games with Indianapolis, he amassed 614 tackles, 32 tackles for loss, 31 passes defensed, 12 interceptions, 17 forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries.
"He's a special player. He brought energy to the locker room, to the team, to the field, like nobody else, man," linebacker Zaire Franklin, a close friend of Leonard's, said Wednesday. "He had an objective of taking the ball away and it was special. It was different than anything I've ever seen. So glad that he's finally getting the honor that he deserves and the flowers that he deserves and I'm happy for him and his family that he's able to witness that and just see how he impacted this place in a positive way."
He finished the 2023 season with the Philadelphia Eagles and did not play in the NFL last season.
ESPN's Stephen Holder contributed to this report.