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Jared Allen announced his retirement by actually riding off on a horse

He tries to ride off into the sunset, but there's no sunset.

By Yaron Weitzman
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Jared Allen, who spent 12 years in the NFL and played for four teams, announced his retirement on Thursday in a video posted to Twitter.

"Everyone, I just want to say thank you for an amazing 12-year career," Allen said in the video, while wearing a cowboy hat and sitting on a horse. "This was the part where I was going to ride off into the sunset, but given there's no sunset I'm just going to ride off."

Allen, 33, finishes his career with five Pro Bowl selections and 136 career sacks. He led the league in sacks twice and recorded 22 in 2011, a half-sack short of Michael Strahan's single-season record.

Allen was taken out of Idaho State by the Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He spent four years in Kansas City before being traded to Minnesota in 2008 for a first-round pick and a pair of third-round picks, which turned into offensive tackle Branden Albert and running back Jamaal Charles. Allen then signed a six-year, $72 million deal with Minnesota, then the highest contract for a defensive player in NFL history.

Six years later, Allen signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Bears. He was then traded to Carolina this September, where he recorded two sacks in 12 games.

Allen released a statement announcing his retirement as well.

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