Nick Mangold announces official NFL retirement

Former Ohio State center Nick Mangold officially announced his retirement from the NFL on Tuesday, after missing out on the entire 2017 season as an unsigned free agent.

After 11 seasons with the New York Jets, the team decided to release seven-time Pro Bowl center Nick Mangold ahead of last year’s free agency. He’s only missed significant playing time once in his career — seven games in 2016 — but due to his age and price tag, wasn’t able to sign with another team to play during in 2017.

Now, the former Buckeye is officially hanging up his cleats,..

It was reported early on during last year’s free agency, that teams were interested in Mangold switching positions from center to guard, but the Buckeye was holding out hope that he’d be able to keep snapping the ball. Initially pegged to receive over $9 million for the 2017 season, the Jets releasing Mangold was predominantly a financial decision.

The Buckeye learned about his release while at Disney World and posted a perfect meme for the occasion.

Mangold was a all-star on and off the field during his NFL career, and will go down as one of the greats to ever play the position.