Jacobs stepping away from competitive curling

It was an announcement that seemed to take many by surprise.

On Wednesday afternoon Team Jacobs announced in a social media post that skip Brad Jacobs will be taking some time off from competitive curling while the remaining three members – third Marc Kennedy, second E.J. Harnden, and lead Ryan Harnden – will “continue to compete on teams that will be announced in the near future.”

“After three great seasons with Marc and 13 amazing years with Brad, E.J., and Ryan playing together, our journey has come to an end,” the statement said.

The announcement also said that Jacobs is “taking at least a year off from competitive curling.”

The announcement comes after the Jacobs rink wrapped up action in the 2022 Tim Hortons Brier last week, making the playoff round before being eliminated by Saskatchewan’s Colton Flasch.

The full statement was posted on the Team Jacobs Twitter feed shortly before 4 p.m.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end - what a ride! pic.twitter.com/ZROAn5HRR8

— Team Jacobs (@TeamBradJacobs) March 16, 2022

The team is scheduled to play in two remaining events this season together.

It was one of a few major team announcements in the curling world on Wednesday that also saw Kevin Koe’s Alberta-based team announce it would be going in a different direction next year as well.

On the women’s side, Team Fleury, skipped by Tracey Fleury, made a similar announcement on Wednesday.