Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club attackman Jay Carlson announces his retirement
By Adam Lamberti
May 8, 2023
Jay Carlson has announced his retirement from professional lacrosse.
The two-time PLL champion with the Whipsnakes played 8 seasons of professional lacrosse, amassing 71 goals and 17 assists.
Carlson cites a new family as one of the main reasons for retirement.
“I have a 17-day old staring at me over here, so I’m getting a little older, I’m a new parent,” Carlson said.
Because of the commitment to his family, Carlson says he’s not able to train as much to play at the highest level.
“The talent [in the PLL] is insane,” Carlson said. “The last four or five years in the PLL, I've had to spend two hours a day and do two-a-days, I've had to do everything I could to compete.”
Known particularly for his off-ball play, Carlson credits the awesome teammates he’s played with over the years for a lot of his scoring success.
“They did the hard work,” Carlson said. “I've just been sneaky off-ball and I’ve always loved that aspect of lacrosse; those guys have an open shot, but they see me out of the corner of their eye and they're selfless and they end up moving it one more because they trust me and we get a dunk.”
While Carlson was never one of the most talented or most athletic players on the field, his steady presence at attack helped contribute to two Whipsnakes LC titles in 2019 and 2020.
His contributions came in the form of highlight reel goals.
His contributions came in the form of hustle plays.
His contributions came in the form of off-ball movement, freeing up other teammates.
And of course, with clutch and timely goals.
Defining what it meant to be a Whipsnake, Carlson filled any role needed of him to win. While he’ll miss winning championships with the club, Carlson will especially miss the smaller aspects and moments of professional lacrosse.
“Just being in the locker room, being in the huddle, those are the main things I'm going to miss in lacrosse,” Carlson said. “Just getting the team together and being on the same page and focusing on winning a game and reaching our goals and playing lacrosse at the highest level, you know, it's just been an honor and I've enjoyed every moment of it, and I don't take it for granted.”
