‘You’re not invincible’: As he retires, Buccaneers center Ryan Jensen talks mental health, off-field endeavors

Ryan Jensen’s story is nothing short of a roller coaster, and a new off-field venture will keep him busy now that he’s hung up No. 66.

After an impressive four years of Division II college ball at Colorado State University Pueblo, the Baltimore Ravens took a shot on the six-foot-five, 311-pound center in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. A year later, he was cut from the starting roster. With clenched teeth and “fire in his belly,” Jensen worked his way back and started all 16 games for the Ravens during the 2017 season.

In 2018, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made Jensen the highest-paid center in football, penning him to a four-year, $42 million deal. He’d go on to start 81 consecutive games, buddy up with Tom Brady, win Super Bowl LV and earn a Pro Bowl honor.

In 2022, the Bucs extended the 30-year-old to another three years for $39 million, but just a few months later, Jensen suffered a severe knee injury in training camp.

He’s only played one game in two seasons since—and today he announced his retirement from the NFL.

“With any chapter in the book of life, there is always an ending. The NFL chapter of my life is coming to a close,” Jensen wrote on social media.

“It sucks getting struck down from the top of the mountain,” Jensen told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay last week. “I was really prideful … and that was just kind of a reality check for me. Like, hey, you’re not invincible.”

Jensen’s mental health quickly became the forefront of his priorities.

“It was definitely hard. You learn a lot more about yourself in the hard times than you do in the good times. It gave me a great opportunity to reflect on everything … my life, previous traumas and stuff like that,” he said. “I had all this anger and bitterness. [I learned] how to control my emotions, for when, you know, I start feeling that anxiety, that depression. For so long, especially as men, we just hold all that stuff in, and you don’t want to talk about it.”

Aside from meeting with a sports counselor and surrounding himself with supportive friends and family, Jensen knew he needed to keep his competitive mind sharp while rehabbing.

That’s when his college-enemy-turned-friend, Garrett Gilkey, inquired about teaming up on the rebrand and expansion of his Tampa-based company, Gilk.

Gilkey, a former Bucs lineman from 2014-2016, completed a master’s degree in engineering, obtained general contracting and plumbing licenses and began a master’s degree in business administration during his time in the league. He then founded Gilk in 2017, which was formerly positioned as HGC Design Build until this year.

Unlike a vast population of professional athletes, Gilkey accepted the fact that his time on the field would inevitably come to an end and decided to focus on “life after football” before reality knocked on his door—that being, a career-ending knee injury in 2016.

“I missed the whole journey of being in my 20s because I was isolated through the experiences of being an NFL player,” Gilkey said. “I wasn’t interested in partying, I wasn’t interested in living a lifestyle that most people were living.”

For Jensen, it was a no-brainer decision, as he was already familiar with Gilkey’s expertise in the real estate field. In 2021, Gilkey helped Jensen negotiate and secure his 600-acre dream property in Evergreen, Colorado—just a two-hour drive from his college.

“I obviously trust Garrett. We’ve been friends for about 11 years now,” Jensen said.

But that wasn’t always the case, not back during the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference days.

“We played against each other in college and actually hated each other,” Jensen said. “We both played the same position, were both giant redheads and were both really good at football. So naturally, we didn’t like each other.”

Now, they’ve been co-owners of Gilk, a luxury home-building company, for over a year and plan to keep building.

Gilk specializes in new construction, residential community development, land acquisition and commercial space revitalization. With nearly 50 employees, the company is working on more than 35 projects throughout the country—including a luxury home on Bayshore Boulevard.

Priding itself on thoughtful architecture through highly-individualized processes, Gilk conducts personalized sessions with clients and aims to impact their lives beyond physical structures. “Success is driven by the lives we impact and the people that are touched by being a part of our organization,” Gilkey said.

Gilk works closely with multiple Christian-based nonprofits in Tampa, including Timothy Initiative, Abe Brown Ministries and Created. Through relationships with these ministries, Gilk employs men who have recovered from addiction abuse, homelessness, incarceration and other life challenges for a variety of jobs.

“We’ve got a pretty substantial amount of guys in the field, doing construction projects all throughout Tampa, who are completely sober, living in recovery,” Gilkey said.

With Jensen on board, Gilk’s public profile has hit the mainstream. While he’s now retired, the hulking star of the Bucs’ offensive line was dedicated to his veteran role in the locker room.

Jensen has been passionate about mentoring younger Bucs players, helping them navigate everything from financial decisions to mental health struggles to preparing for post-football careers.

“Nobody gets out alive in the NFL,” Jensen said. “Like, ‘Hey, you probably shouldn't be spending that kind of money. You’re making a lot of money compared to the average person, but you’re out here spending it like you’re making $10 million a year when you’re making a million a year.’”

“Even if they make $100 million in their career, we’re just not designed to just do nothing. You get crazy and go bored, and then that’s when other issues start coming up like addiction, gambling issues, alcoholism,” he said. “When your mind sits idle for so long, other things are going to start creeping in to get that dopamine fix.”

Jensen is now at the end of his career snapping footballs for the Bucs. And off the field, he and Gilkey are just scratching the surface of what's next, whether it's snapping stigmas, and, yeah, drywall, too.

Editor's note: Max Steele interviewed Jensen last week, and as we were putting this story online, the Bucs center announced his retirement.

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