because he was deactivated due to inconsistent play. Arizona Cardinals (2013) Mendenhall signed a one-year contract worth up to $2.5 million with the Arizona Cardinals on March 13, 2013. Mendenhall would end up scoring eight rushing touchdowns for the Cardinals Retirement In March 2014, at the age of 26, Mendenhall retired from the NFL, saying, "Football was pretty cool, but I don't want to play anymore. I want to travel the world and write! ". NFL career statistics Writing career Mendenhall was a writer and story editor for the HBO sports comedy Ballers. A number of scenes from the show were inspired by his own career. Personal Osama bin Laden tweet Reacting to the death of Osama bin Laden and the American reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011, Mendenhall posted comments on his Twitter account criticizing the celebrations; one tweet seemed to support 9/11 conspiracy theories. More Tweets On April 11, 2019, during the public fallout between Mendenhall's former teammates Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, Mendenhall took to Twitter stating that the situation between Roethlisberger and Brown occurred because Roethlisberger is racist. Mendenhall tweeted, "Alright, I'll end the mystery...B's racist and @AB84 (Brown) is black. He had to catch balls from a racist quarterback. Every honest player knows it, it's not a big deal. He was just supposed to take his lickings and move on, like a slave for real." Mendenhall later attempted to back pedal on his remarks, saying that Roethlisberger was "not racist" just like Brown is "not a dirtbag" and "Clearly it's no fun, when EVERYONE's the accused." Transition from Football Mendenall described the transition of leaving football as "finding a new identity" and "leaving the warrior that lived for physical battle." He adopted a meditative discipline he described as "crescent moon" to facilitate his adjustment to post-football life. References External links Illinois Fighting Illini bio 1987 births Living people African-American players of American football American football running backs Arizona Cardinals players Illinois Fighting Illini football players People from Skokie, Illinois Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Illinois Sportspeople from Cook County, Illinois Writers from Illinois 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people