Shaquille Leonard stands at the podium in the media room in Lucas Oil Stadium, facing cameras and reporters as he'd done so many times before.

But this time, the NFL linebacker wasn't in uniform. He wasn't speaking at a postgame press conference and he wasn't talking about a football game.

Instead, Leonard was wearing jeans, boots and a cowboy hat. His family sat in the front row – next to his former teammates Kenny Moore II and Anthony Walker Jr., both wearing Leonard's jersey – and Leonard was talking about his life.

"First of all, like always, want to thank Jim Irsay and the Irsay family for just giving me the opportunity to –" Leonard opens, before pausing to clear his throat and collect himself, his voice already wavering. Just a few hours remained before Leonard would officially r

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