Bills Guard Isaac Asiata Announces Retirement From NFL

Asiata announced his retirement after spending one week with the Bills in training camp.

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Bills guard Isaac Asiata announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday.

Asiata, 26, shared his decision on social media and thanked the Bills for giving him another chance to play football.

The Dolphins selected Asiata in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL draft out of Utah, and he played in only two games during his career in Miami. Asiata spent most of last season on the Dolphins' practice squad before being placed on waived-injured in May. He moved to injured reserve before being released by Miami in June.

Buffalo signed Asiata three days prior to the start of training camp, and he participated in the first week of camp before deciding to retire. Asiata said that he struggled mentally with "fear of the unknown" and "fear of failure" during his career.

"I have lived the last two years of my NFL career waging war with myself mentally," he said. "With constant anxiety, persistent worry and fear of the unknown and of 'what comes next' if I were to be done ...The fear of failure consumed me to the point of questioning myself and my ability to play this game. I no longer played this game because I loved it."

He also addressed how he came to the decision to retire after spending the past week in camp.

"I found that my heart was no longer 100% in this. I sought out to give it one more shot to see if I was truly done and ready to move on and I am ...Those fears and anxieties were replaced with comfort, peace and understanding as I came to terms with where my life is now, and what the Lord has planned for me and my family."

Asiata is the second player in two weeks to retire from the Bills. Last week, safety Rafael Bush retired after nine seasons in the NFL.