Driver to announce his retirement from Packers

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GREEN BAY - Perhaps the most beloved Green Bay Packers’ star of the last 20 years will retire next week. The Packers announced this morning that Donald Driver will call it a career during a ceremony in the Lambeau Field Atrium next Wednesday – which is the second anniversary of Green Bay’s last Super Bowl victory.

Driver will turn 38 on Saturday, after playing his entire 14-year career with the Pack. He was just a footnote when he was drafted in the seventh round in 1999 from Alcorn State, and he only caught 37 passes in his first three seasons. But as the years went on, Driver became such a force in the Packers’ receiving corps that he ended up surpassing legends like Don Hutson. Driver holds Green Bay’s all-time receiving record with 10,137-yards. He’s also first in catches with 743, and the number of one-thousand-yard seasons with seven. Driver is third behind Hutson and Sterling Sharpe with 61 touchdown catches.

Along the way, Driver endeared himself to even non-Packer fans with his infectious smile, friendly personality, contributions to charity, and the way he overcame a rough childhood in Texas. And Driver made millions of new fans a year ago when he won ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.” That prompted the Packers to bring him back for one more year – but time diminished his skills, and he only caught eight passes in his final season. This week, there were rumors that the Minnesota Vikings might be interested in Driver – but he has often mentioned that the Packers were the only team he ever really wanted to play for.

Tags: wisconsin sports, proam, football, packers