Former Lions offensive guard Manny Ramirez retires from the NFL

After nine seasons in the NFL, offensive guard Manny Ramirez has retired from the NFL, according to the daily transaction list for Wednesday.

His retirement comes as a bit of a surprise. After spending last season with the Detroit Lions -- starting seven games in total -- Ramirez signed with the Chicago Bears back in March. Ramirez had been practicing with the Bears during OTAs, but it sounds like his body simply did not hold up at age 33. "You can't really push it anymore when your body tells you that you can't do what's required at this level," Ramirez told ChicagoBears.com.

Ramirez was actually drafted by the Lions back in 2007 and spent four seasons with the team. He didn't really develop into a strong starter until 2012 with the Denver Broncos. A few years later, Denver traded Ramirez back to the Lions to jump up a few spots in the 2015 NFL Draft.

During his entire career, Ramirez started 65 games. We wish him well in retirement.