Saints RB Mark Ingram Retires

A New Orleans Saints great officially calls it a career.

New Orleans Saints RB Mark Ingram will be officially retired from the National Football League. In an announcement by Fox Sports on Thursday, Ingram will be joining Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn, Urban Meyer, and Rob Stone on the network's Saturday collegiate telecast. 

The move comes as no surprise. Earlier in June, a story surfaced that Fox Sports approached Ingram to be one of their hosts on the ''Big Noon Kickoff'' college football pregame show. As Kyle Mosley of the Saints News Network wrote on June 8, Ingram will replace former New Orleans Saints RB Reggie Bush on the telecast.

A Look Back at Ingram's Career 

The 33-year-old Ingram played 12 NFL seasons. He rushed for 8,111 yards and 65 touchdowns over his career, also catching 303 passes for 2,125 yards and another five scores. He had three 1,000-yard seasons, led his team in rushing five times, and finished with 19 career 100-yard outings. 

Son of former Giants and Dolphins wideout Mark Ingram, Mark Ingram II played collegiately at Alabama, where he rushed for 3,261 yards and scored 46 touchdowns in three years. His 1,658 yards and 17 scores on the ground in 2009 earned him the Heisman Trophy for the National Champion Crimson Tide. 

After drafting DE Cameron Jordan with the 24th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Saints traded back into the first round to select Ingram with the 28th overall choice.

Oct 26, 2014; New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram (22) fights off Green Bay Packers cornerback Davon House (31) . Mandatory Credit: Crystal LoGiudice-USA TODAY

In 10 overall seasons with New Orleans, Ingram rushed for 6,500 yards and scored 57 total touchdowns. He left as a free agent in 2019 to join the Baltimore Ravens, where he'd remain for two years. He'd sign with the Houston Texans in 2021, but was traded back to New Orleans midway through the season, where he presumably ends his career with the third most rushing yards among active players. 

Ingram's 6,500 yards and 52 touchdowns as a Saint are both first on the franchise's all-time list. He is one of just four players to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons with the team (2) and one of only three players to accomplish the feat in back-to-back years.

With an eventual spot in the Saints Hall of Fame now awaiting him, we congratulate and thank Mark Ingram for a brilliant career.