USC safety John Plattenburg retiring for medical reasons

USC will need to fill a void in the secondary in 2017 after coach Clay Helton said Wednesday that safety John Plattenburg is retiring from football for medical reasons.

Per Rivals site TrojanSports.com, Plattenburg is quitting football because of “concussion related symptoms.” Plattenburg missed the beginning of the season because of a concussion but was cleared to return in September after going through concussion protocol. He suffered the concussion at the beginning of USC’s fall practices.

Upon his return, Plattenburg primarily played on special teams.

A senior in 2017, Plattenburg was a key contributor in his first two seasons with the team. In 2014 and 2015 he started a combined 14 games. In 2015, he had eight starts and recorded 34 tackles. Plattenburg had 32 tackles as a freshman.

The Trojans may also be looking for a new kicker in 2017. Matt Boermeester, who hit the game-winning field goal for USC in its win over Penn State in the Rose Bowl, is not listed on USC’s spring roster. The notes in the spring media guide, according to TrojanSports.com, says that USC will “likely” have a new face in 2017 at the kicker position.

Boermeester has been suspended from the team because of a code of conduct investigation. No details regarding the cause of the investigation have been made public as USC has said “student disciplinary records and proceedings regarding any matter of student conduct are confidential and protected by law.”

Boermeester was 18-25 on field goals in 2016.

– – – – – – –

Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @NickBromberg