Philipsburg native Jon Condo retires from the NFL after 14 seasons as a long-snapper
Philipsburg native Jon Condo has decided to hang up his cleats after 14 seasons on an active roster in the NFL.
The San Francisco 49ers announced Monday that the 38-year-old long-snapper has been placed on the retired/reserved list after playing just one game with team — Sunday’s 24-20 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 49ers plan to sign veteran long-snapper Garrison Sanborn as Condo’s replacement, per The Athletic’s Matt Barrows.
“After serious thought, I’ve decided it is time to hang up the cleats,” Condo wrote on Twitter, shortly after the news broke. “I’m thankful for the opportunity the 49ers gave me but realized after yesterday’s game that I am not 100% committed to playing this game and it would have been unfair to the organization to continue playing.”
Condo was signed to the 49ers just last week, after the team waived long-snapper Colin Holba. The team’s regular long-snapper, Kyle Nelson, is serving a 10-game suspension for violating NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.
According to NBC Sports’ Matt Maiocco, Condo had been struggling in practice and looked rusty in his snaps against Pittsburgh.
Over the summer, as a free agent, Condo told the Centre Daily Times that while he was satisfied with what he had accomplished so far in his career as a two-time Pro Bowler, he wasn’t quite ready to give up on the game. There was still one thing he hadn’t yet earned in his 14 years in the NFL — a Super Bowl ring. But with his wife and three kids at home in California, flexibility was becoming more difficult for him.
“It’d be easy if I was just married and it was just my wife and I, but with kids, and them being in preschool and having a schedule, it’s just tough to coordinate everything,” he said in July. “And I’ve had a great career. I’m satisfied with what I’ve accomplished.”
Condo was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He spent most of his NFL career with the Oakland Raiders, where he played for 12 years and was selected for the 2010 and 2012 Pro Bowls. Condo became a free agent in March 2018, and was picked up by the Atlanta Falcons after an injury to their starting long-snapper.
It was that last snap in Atlanta — a game-winning field goal as time ran out — that Condo told the CDT in July was one of the most memorable of his career, as he knew it could be his last.
“I would also like to thank all the organizations who believed in me throughout my career and gave me the opportunity to compete,” Condo wrote on Monday. “I’m at a point in my life where my focus has shifted, and the most important thing for me is being mentally and physically focused for my 3 young children and wife.”
While he’s been living in California, Condo still maintains strong ties to the Philipsburg area. In July, Condo donated tickets to children going through and surviving cancer, as well as to Wounded Warriors for the YMCA of Centre County’s Anti-hunger Concert, featuring former “The Voice” contestant Josh Gallagher at his alma mater’s football field. He was also in town in July for the annual “Tee Off for T-Cells” charity golf tournament, held by the Emily Whitehead Foundation, for which he’s an executive board member.
Condo attended Philipsburg-Osceola Area High School from 1997-2000, where he was a state champion wrestler, an all-state linebacker and an all-state catcher. He went on to play football for the University of Maryland.
This story was originally published September 23, 2019 at 7:32 PM.