There’s a certain grieving period that all professional athletes go through when deciding to hang up their cleats. For some, it’s short and easy, but others take longer to come to terms with a new reality.

For former Seattle Seahawks edge rusher Cassius Marsh, that period was around five years, as he finally decided to call it a career on Thursday. Marsh visited the Virginia Mason Athletic Center to retire, ending his time in football in the same facility he entered as a wide-eyed rookie in 2014.

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“This is where it all started for me, where the dream began, and I see as my best years in the league,” Marsh said to Seahawks reporter Ari Horton. “Just my teammates, and the organization was just so good for me. So, I felt like this was the spot to come back to.”

Marsh was a fourth-round draft pick by the Seahawks in 2014 and spent three seasons playing in Seattle totaling three sacks, 55 tackles and 10 tackles for loss. After Marsh was traded to the New England Patriots in 2017, he proceeded to bounce around the league for the next five years, spending time with the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears, just to name a few of his stops along the way.

The last time Marsh played a season was in 2021, when he played in four games for the Bears, recording one sack and six tackles. He finishes his career with 15 total sacks, 132 solo tackles and five forced fumbles across 96 games in the NFL.

Marsh said in his retirement announcement that he needed time to heal before hanging up the cleats for good.

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“I was still bitter from my time being over and needing some time to heal from that so that I can come and celebrate,” Marsh said. “It was a good time to heal and focus on my business, and now I’m here.”

While the UCLA standout needed time, he didn’t waste it. Marsh embraced another hobby of his: trading card collecting. He started and co-owns a trading card shop called Cash Cards Unlimited in Thousand Oaks, California.