Lulay spent his entire 10-year Canadian Football League career with the B.C. Lions

Quarterback Travis Lulay, who spent his entire 10-year Canadian Football League career with the B.C. Lions, announced his retirement on Thursday.

The 35-year-old started 81 games with the Lions, compiling a 48-33 record in his career and throwing for 21,352 yards and 127 touchdowns.

Photo by NICK PROCAYLO / PNG

In 2011, the Montana State grad led the Lions to the Grey Cup and was named the CFL’s most outstanding player and a Grey Cup MVP.

Frequent shoulder injuries and tears to both his MCL and ACL severely limited both Lulay’s playing time and ability during the back half of his career. In 2016, the oft-injured quarterback was demoted to a backup role behind burgeoning star Jonathon Jennings.

However, due to injuries and sub-par play from Jennings, Lulay managed to start 12 games in 2018 and helped lift the Lions back into the playoffs, finishing 9-9 en route to an eventual 48-8 loss to the Hamilton Ticats in the Eastern semifinal.

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In February, the Lions signed free-agent quarterback Mike Reilly to a four-year, $2.9-million contract, which sealed Lulay’s fate with the club.

Reilly started his career in B.C. and served as Lulay’s backup from 2010 to 2012.

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In a blog post at 3rd Down Nation , Lulay said he received offers from other teams but the decision to retire was made in the best interest of his long-term health and well-being.

“About halfway through last season, however, I started to feel like it was going to be my last. It was a struggle to maintain my newly repaired knee to be game-ready on the weekends. As the normal wear and tear of the season added up, it took even more wind out of my sails. Everybody gets banged up during the season —I know that. But it felt different for me this time around. Still, I owed it to myself to stay true to my process in making this decision,” Lulay told 3rd Down Nation.

Jennings, who was also not re-signed by the Lions, inked a free-agent deal with the Ottawa Redblacks.

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