He started as a raw, unknown commodity at UAPB and ends his career as a five-time Pro Bowler. HBCU Legend and All-Pro offensive lineman Terron Armstead announced his retirement from the NFL at a lavish, star-studded party on Saturday night in Miami.
Armstead, 33 years-of-age, officially capped an impressive 12-year career in the National Football League after playing for Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins.
Quarterback Drew Brees and Cam Jordan, former teammates from the Saints, attended his retirement party. Armstead also brought together his crew from the Dolphins, other NFL players from the fraternity, and friends to celebrate his contributions to football and the community.
Armstead’s football journey began on a non-traditional route as an HBCU star with the Arkansas–Pine Bluff (UAPB) Golden Lions. He earned three First-Team All-SWAC honors as an offensive lineman, displaying and showcasing his unique set of tools, combination of size, speed, and athleticism.
Former New Orleans Saints head coach Payton noticed Armstead at the 2013 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, where his record-breaking 4.71-second 40-yard dash for an offensive lineman raised eyebrows around the league. New Orleans drafted him as the 75th overall pick in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft.
Armstead spent nine seasons in the ‘Big Easy’ as the team’s cornerstone of their offensive line while protecting his four signal callers Drew Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, Jameis Winston, and Taysom Hill, anchoring one of the league’s most consistent and feared offenses.
He earned three trips to the Pro Bowl and a Second Team All-Pro nod in 2018 during his tenure in New Orleans. In 2022, Armstead departed in free agency when he signed a handsome five-year, $75 million deal with the Miami Dolphins.
Embed from Getty ImagesDespite several nagging injuries that limited his playing time and availability, Armstead was selected for two more Pro Bowls during his three seasons in Miami.
While he was extremely important in the progress and development of offensive linemen such as Austin Jackson and Patrick Paul, Armstead also proved to be influential for players on the other side of the ball, including 2024 first-round pick Chop Robinson.
“Just getting an offensive perspective, especially against one of the greatest, just learning from him,” Robinson said in August. “I go against him in practice, and he’s doing things that I’ve never seen before from an O-lineman.
“He gave me tips on how I could work on that. I can’t tell the tips, but it definitely worked.”
Armstead was a leader and got it done on and off the field, being a mentor and positively impacting the lives of youth in his hometown of Cahokia, Illinois, by establishing community outreach programs.
Today, he continues to be an unwavering ambassador and advocate for HBCU athletes when he connected with Doug Williams and James ‘Shack’ Harris to become one of the founding partners of the Allstate HBCU Legacy Bowl, along with Patrick Mahomes, Bobby Wagner, and other NFL contemporaries.
Armstead’s philanthropic work and efforts are through the Terron Armstead Foundation.
