Washington Legend Ryan Kerrigan Retires: 'This Is Where My Heart Is'

11-year veteran calls it a career, departs the NFL with the team he came in with.

ASHBURN, Va. -- Entering the 2011 NFL Draft, some thought the Washington Redskins needed to draft a quarterback. 

But when they got on the clock, instead of drafting Missouri's Blaine Gabbert after Cam Newton (Auburn) went to the Carolina Panthers and Jake Locker (Washington) went to the Tennessee Titans, Washington traded the pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Gabbert went to the Jaguars, and Florida State's Christian Ponder went to the Minnesota Vikings before the team got on the clock again. 

Rather than taking the fifth quarterback off the board, they opted for Purdue's Ryan Kerrigan. A pass rusher expected to help add some juice to one of the league's worst defenses coming into that season. 

“I know they’ve got a great core great group of guys," Kerrigan said after being drafted. "Brian Orakpo, London Fletcher, LaRon Landry...I’m looking forward to being a part of that."

Not only did the rookie become a part of it, he turned into one of the best players the franchise has ever seen. 

In 10 seasons wearing burgundy and gold, Kerrigan only ever missed four games, racking up over 90 sacks in the more than 150 games he played. 

And as the four-time pro bowler put one final touch on his career, he was welcomed back by the franchise like he never left. 

"It was something that I felt strongly about," Kerrigan said about retiring with Washington. "This is where my heart is, this is where I started...yesterday was great, and they went above and beyond to make it a special day for me."

Back to that draft, Washington never did take a quarterback in 2011. Instead, they rolled into that season with Rex Grossman and eventually drafted Robert Griffin III, and well, you probably know how that went. 

An interesting fact pointed out by TEGNA's Taresh Mullick, Kerrigan's franchise record-setting sack and the last pick-six of his career both came against Washington Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz.