Glen Coffee’s stunning retirement Friday sparked a lot of speculation as to the reason — including guesses that Coffee had failed a drug test or been involved in a spat with 49ers coach Mike Singletary. Turns out, the truth is much less sinister: Saturday, Coffee told Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee that he’s headed back to school to complete his undergraduate degree and pursue a master’s degree, a decision rooted in his deep religious beliefs.
“Actually when I look back I feel I never should have entered the draft in the first place,” said Coffee, who left the University of Alabama after his junior year. “Football was no longer my dream. I found Christ in college. It changed my views on everything. But I still was a football player because it was expected of me, it was something I did all my life. I was basically wasting the [49ers’] time.”
“His will, I felt, wasn’t football. I felt like I forced football because everyone expected me to play football. He told me a long time ago to walk away from the game.”
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