McAllister retiring from football after rejoining Saints in ceremonial role

Deuce McAllister retiring from football

NEW ORLEANS — Deuce McAllister has decided to retire from pro football, ending an injury-plagued eight-year career in which he rewrote the New Orleans Saints’ rushing records.

McAllister hasn’t played since 2008 but briefly rejoined the New Orleans Saints last week to serve as an honorary captain for the club’s playoff victory over Arizona on Saturday.

McAllister confirmed his plans to retire to The Associated Press on Tuesday afternoon and the Saints announced soon after in a one-sentence e-mail that McAllister had been placed on the team’s reserve-retired list.

The move opens up an active roster spot for the Saints, who host Minnesota in the NFC championship game on Sunday evening.

The Saints were off on Tuesday and the club did not announce any new roster additions.

The 31-year-old McAllister was drafted in the first round by New Orleans in 2001.

At 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, he was a punishing runner who could move piles. He also possessed the agility to make tacklers miss in the open field.

He grew up near Jackson, Miss., an area dominated by Saints fans, played at the University of Mississippi and became one of the most popular players in franchise history.

The Louisiana Superdome crowd routinely let out elongated howls of, “Doooo-se,” whenever the Saints were setting up their offense near an opponents’ end zone. Fans even did so a couple times on Saturday.

McAllister is the Saints’ career rushing leader with 6,096 yards. His 55 total touchdowns and 49 rushing TDs also are club records. However, he needed reconstructive surgery to repair serious knee injuries in 2005 and 2007, and struggled to regain his form after the second operation.

McAllister’s was the only Saints player to have four 1,000-yard seasons as a rusher, the last coming in 2006, when he helped New Orleans advance to the franchise’s first NFC championship game.

He was named to Pro Bowls after the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

As his football career flourished, McAllister diversified his business interests, opening car dealerships in Jackson, purchasing a stake in the McAlister’s Deli chain and investing in the restoration of the historic King Edward Hotel in downtown Jackson.

Last year, however, one of his car dealerships went into bankruptcy and closed.

McAllister maintains a residence in the New Orleans area and plans to remain with the Saints in an unofficial capacity throughout the playoffs.