The Florida defense took a huge hit this year when star DL Jordan Sherit went down with a hip injury after only six games.

Sherit recorded 2.5 sacks in his limited action and finished his Florida career with 88 tackles and 7.5 sacks.

However, as he tried to rehab his hip injury, it became clear he wasn’t going to be able to make it to the NFL level. On Wednesday afternoon, he announced his reluctant retirement from the game of football:

“Today, I am reluctantly retiring from the game of football,” Sherit writes. “After receiving final feedback this week from a number of doctors and medical staffs, it has become clear that I will be unable to continue playing the game I love due to my recent hip injury. Playing the game of football for the past 16 years has taught me so much about life and has helped build countless lifelong relationships, and for that, I am forever grateful. My only wish is that I would have accomplished more here at the University of Florida, but sometimes life is out of our control. Although it hurts accepting that I will never suit up again, I am eager to tackle the challenges ahead of me.”

That’s sad news for the former Gator, who likely would have been chosen in the 2018 NFL Draft if he’d been able to recover from his injury.

What’s next for him remains to be seen, but hopefully he finds success and happiness with whatever he pursues in the future.