NFL fans show love to Tavon Austin as ex-Rams WR retires: "You will be missed," "YouTube mixtape superstar"

Sometimes the best way to remind people of how good you used to be at a certain job is to stop doing that just as Tavon Austin has done. The now-former wide receiver was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the 2013 NFL Draft and was with the team when he moved to Los Angeles.

Even though he did not fulfill the promise of his college career in the professional game, he was still much beloved as witnessed in social media reactions. Fans flooded X, formerly known as Twitter, to thank him for some good times. Here are some of the best reactions from the platform.

People often mentioned his ability to make eye-catching plays and how his highlight reel, especially from college, was one to behold. Here are some more responses on that theme.

"He still has the best hilight [sic] tape of all time"

"Greatest highlight tape of all time"

"greatest highlight tape OAT"

Tavon Austin failed to find a team since 2023

Tavon Austin was phenomenal when he was in college and accordingly was rewarded for his form in West Virginia by being selected eighth overall in the 2013 NFL Draft by the Rams. However, that turned out to be the high point of his NFL career.

Even though he was a steady player, he never made it to the Pro Bowl or the All-Pro team. It was a major disappointment considering all the accolades he had earned during his time at university. By 2017, he was traded to the Cowboys where he held a spot until 2019.

But his career after that was a challenge with 2020 seeing him join the 49ers practice squad before getting a chance with the Packers. By 2021, he was on the move again as he found a new home in Jacksonville with the Jaguars. But they too moved on from him in a year and he was with the Buffalo Bills in 2022 on their practice squad.

He spent the entirety of the last season out of the NFL and probably saw his path being clouded by the young receivers entering the league, just as had done a decade ago.

Tavon Austin might have waited as long as he did after the draft to retire because he could have been hopeful about a team like the Bills, with whom he had experience playing, coming up and calling him. After all, Buffalo has moved on from two veteran wide receivers in the offseason.

Ultimately, it did not work out for him and he chose to hang up his cleats rather than go through the process of waiting again.