Bengals left end Sam Hubbard, the local kid with the movie star nickname, leading man looks and Oscar scripts, came up with a Hollywood ending Wednesday morning when "The Cincinnati Kid" retired after seven seasons.

Hubbard, 29, made the announcement on social media and then reflected to Bengals.com, "I gave it everything I had. I feel like I left everything on the field. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Every day I woke up and gave it to the team and the city.

"I didn't want to play for another team. I'm a Bengal for life, and it means the world to me."

Hubbard always had a thing for endings. It's so fitting his last play is a first.

He became the first Bengals defensive player to catch a touchdown pass when he leaped to haul down Joe Burrow’s two-yard ball in what turned out to be a huge third-down connection late in the first half on Dec. 15 in Tennessee. He got injured and was done for the year, but the catch tied the game, led to the Bengals' 37-27 victory over the Titans and earned Hubbard a promise from Burrow to give him his jersey from that day.

Such indelible moments were just another day on the set for the wildly popular Hubbard. He won two state titles with Cincinnati's Archbishop Moeller High School, a national title for Ohio State and helped put the Bengals in the Super Bowl.

Hubbard also choreographed the biggest play in the 25 seasons of Paycor Stadium in the 24-17 Wild Card victory over the Ravens.

With the Ravens set to take the lead in a 17-17 game early in the fourth quarter on quarterback Tyler Huntley's sneak, linebacker Logan Wilson knocked the ball loose and Hubbard grabbed it. He reversed field and reversed the game as the sellout crowd of 66,399 got louder with each step by the former Moeller lacrosse star that turned into an NFL postseason record 98-yard fumble return.

Barely had NBC's Mike Tirico finished his iconic "The Cincinnati Kid" call, the Rumble in The Jungle became emblazoned on everything from T-shirts to memories.

But that's not his top moment. That would be the sequence he tracked and sacked Patrick Mahomes on the last two scrimmage snaps of regulation inside the Bengals 10 in the 2021 AFC Championship Game in Kansas City to force the overtime the Bengals won.

"I think it's hard to overshadow the back-to-back sacks in Kansas City to take us to a Super Bowl," Hubbard says. "That Super Bowl experience united the city behind us and the energy and excitement that those kids and people in Cincinnati had never experienced before. I mean, that whole year was just surreal."

And yet the guy with all the theatrics made his bones as a lunch-pail defensive lineman who did the grimy work so well. Rugged and reliable, Hubbard retires with 398 tackles, most by an NFL defensive end since he was drafted in 2018, per Pro Football Reference. His 38.5 sacks are the fifth most by a Bengals defensive end in this century and those 398 tackles third most.

Hubbard straddled the eras. His 111 games ranged from a forced fumble in Marvin Lewis' last game, to four sacks in head coach Zac Taylor’s seven playoff games, to one of best buddy Burrow's NFL-leading 43 touchdown passes.

"Coming into college, I didn't take on a block until my freshman year. I was playing safety," Hubbard says. "I never was the stand-out-go-to pass rusher. I was kind of the guy that did whatever it took to win. Whether it's playing the run, making big plays at the end of the game, getting everybody on the same page. There's a lot that I can hang my hat on, and I just wanted to be part of a winning team and culture at all times."

Always locker-room glue through good seasons and bad (he led a team with the first draft pick and the 31st), he's already told Zac Taylor he's available to come down any time to mentor the players.

"I won two state championships, a national championship, we turned the tide for the Bengals, we won playoff games and we had a lot of great memories," Hubbard says. "Whatever was asked of me, I was going to give that to the best of my ability, and that's something I'll carry with me in whatever avenue I decide to go into. That's just the mentality."

Hubbard's reach is just as big off the field as a Bengals' two-time Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee. Now the Sam Hubbard Foundation becomes the focus after it has already become a staple of Bengals in the community with a diverse portfolio benefitting school children across the region.

His pride and joy is "Hubbard's Cupboard," a place in schools where children can go anytime to get hygiene items, healthy snacks or school supplies, or whatever they need throughout the day. No questions asked. The program is in 21 local schools and the goal is 70 by 2030.

"My whole plan when starting the foundation was for its impact to outlive my playing days." Hubbard says. "That's my project. That's my baby that I've been working on in the offseasons, and now I'll have a lot more time on my hands to network and do different fundraising events and continue that growth because it's doing so much good, along with whatever projects the Sam Hubbard Foundation comes across throughout the years. I have an amazing team around me on the SHF staff and great partners at Crayons to Computers. I'm very thankful for them all."

Hubbard is looking to finish off his legend like other Bengals community icons.

"Kenny Anderson, Anthony Munoz, their foundations and their work is something I look up to and aspire to be like," Hubbard says. "I want it to be like the Munoz Foundation, which is still incredibly relevant today, doing so much good."

Beyond that, Hubbard is an open book. He won't rule out anything.

"I'm not going to close any doors. I was a finance major with a good head on my shoulders. I'm going to find something I enjoy doing. People to mentor me, educate myself, stay active, and you never know what can happen."

Well, there are a few things he knows will happen. He's not moving. He'll raise his family in Cincinnati. And talk about storybook beginnings and endings. Next month in Phoenix he'll marry Jessica Koehler, and then they'll return to what he calls "the next chapter."

"It's almost too good to be true," says Hubbard, living proof you can't do fiction better than fact as his playing career wraps up for his hometown team. "Can't write that story any better."