Arkansas tight end Dax Courtney announces medical retirement

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Razorback freshman tight end Dax Courtney announced Monday that he will medically retire from football.

Courtney was a three-star recruit out of Clarendon, where his dad, Mark Courtney, is the head coach. He missed time in during junior and senior seasons of high school with injuries.

"It's with tears in my eyes that I announce I have been medically retired," Courtney said in a tweet Monday. "The sport I've put my heart into for 19 years is now over for me as a player. Football has been my life for as long as I can remember and will always be my number one story piece, but due to countless injury's I have sustained I have to start thinking about life after football."

Courtney committed to Arkansas in August of 2020 and he held offers from Kansas, Baylor, Missouri, Penn State and Michigan State among others.

"Thank you to the Razorback coaching staff for recruiting me here and doing everything y'all could to make sure I had a good career, I apologize for not being able to fulfill the goals we had set out to do. Thank you Razorback nation for being the best/most supportive fanbase on the planet, and supporting me for the past 2 years. Thank you to the DeWitt, Dumas and Clarendon communities for helping shape me into the person I am today. Thank you to my teammates from peewee till now, love y'all boys. I love football with all of my heart, but it's time for a different route. I love you all."

Arkansas now has just six scholarship tight ends on the current roster after Courtney's retirement.

Below are tweets from Courtney following injuries in high school:

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