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Larry Dean is retiring from the field — but he’s not leaving the CFL.

On Thursday, the 35-year-old linebacker announced his retirement after eight seasons in the CFL, including the last three years with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

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He’s now set to join the Roughriders’ football operations department as the player personnel coordinator.

After spending four years and 61 games in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2011 to 2015, Dean made his way north of the border to the CFL in 2016 when he signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

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After being an East Division all-star in 2017, Dean was named the East Division’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player the following season, while also receiving his second straight all-star nod.

Dean signed with Edmonton for the 2019 season, where he was again named a divisional all-star, before joining Saskatchewan during free agency in 2021.

Before his first season with the Green and White, Dean suffered a torn Achilles and missed the entire 2021 season. He returned in 2022 and started all 18 games at middle linebacker, notching 101 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions.

Last season, Dean eclipsed the 100-tackle mark for the third time in his career, with a career-high 104 tackles, earning a fourth divisional all-star nod. He was also named the Riders’ Most Outstanding Player and Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

In 108 regular season games, Dean registered 570 tackles, which is 25th all-time among CFL defenders.

He also had 15 special teams tackles, 11 sacks, eight forced fumbles and seven interceptions in his career.

More to come…

tshire@postmedia.com

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