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Former Florida safety Keanu Neal announced his retirement earlier this week from football after eight seasons in the NFL.
Neal played with great intensity and was always known for his hard-hitting style, making him one of the best safeties in college during his time.
Gator Days
Neal was a four-star recruit out of South Sumter High School and one of the more sought-after defensive backs in the country. But ultimately, committed to Florida and it turned out to be a great decision for him.
Neal started all three seasons (2013-15) for Florida and became one of the most impactful members of the defense.
Neal played in 32 games, recorded 50 total tackles and three interceptions. But his breakout season came during his junior year, when Neal doubled those numbers with 96 total tackles, along with one interception.
Players feared Keanu Neal at Florida 😤pic.twitter.com/1XecQZNsNI
— The Players' Lounge (@ThPlayersLounge) May 27, 2024
Following the 2015 season, Neal entered his name in the NFL draft as one of the best defensive prospects in the class.
NFL Career
Neal was drafted 17th overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2016 and where he played for five seasons. His first two seasons in Atlanta were some of the best years of his career. In those seasons, Neal played in 30 games, recorded 222 total tackles and forced multiple turnovers before running into some bad injury luck the next two seasons. Neal was named to the Pro Bowl for his outstanding play in 2017.
The 2018 and 2019 seasons were tough sledding for Neal. During the 2018 season opener, Neal suffered a torn ACL that forced him to miss the entire season. Then in 2019, tore an Achilles tendon just three weeks into the season.
Beware, NFL….
We just exercised our fifth-year option on 💥@Keanu_Neal. 💥 pic.twitter.com/obILEClOtK
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) April 24, 2019
After back-to-back years of season-ending injuries, Neal was finally healthy and it showed during the 2020 season. His final season in Atlanta, Neal racked up 100-tackles, with a fumble recovery and an interception.
Following his five seasons with the Falcons, Neal went to play in Dallas, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, all on one-year deals. Neal played his final season in Pittsburgh where he served as a rotational defensive back, while once again dealing with the injury bug. That final season he only played in nine games, but did have 50 tackles and an interception.
After being waived by Pittsburgh following the 2023 season, Neal went unsigned for all of 2024.
He finished his NFL career with 523 total tackles, eight forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and four interceptions. All in just 89 games played.
