My brother played college football. But his was not an ordinary career. He was an offensive lineman at a major Division I-A program. He started getting playing time as a sophomore and was a full-time starter for 3 straight years. He played pretty much every position on the line and played with enough competence to be given 1st team All-League honors two years in a row, both times he was a unanimous choice (meaning all the other teams selected him as a 1st teamer). His final year, he was a consensus All-American, being named to (I believe) 2 different All-American teams.
The lone blemish on his career came in his final game, a bowl game. He injured his knee during a pass-block and his career was ultimately cut short as a direct result. Even so, he spent 2 years trying to make it through the injury as a pro, playing for the reformed Cleveland Browns (I believe Butch Davis was still the coach at the time).
Today, his alma mater is retiring his jersey during a halftime ceremony at the game. Since there are only so many numbers available to offensive lineman, they don’t retire numbers, just the jersey. It’s basically the highest honor a college football player can attain to at his school.
So congratulations little brother, on having an uncommonly outstanding football career recognized as such.