Total Pro Sports
The Buffalo Bills are short an offensive lineman following the retirement of Tommy Doyle.
The former Miami (OH) offensive tackle was a fifth-round pick for the Bills in 2021 after two first-team All-MAC selections and appeared in 11 games in his rookie season. He sustained an ACL tear in his second term.
He suffered another bad injury in preseason after attempting to make a return in 2023, which left him with nerve damage that has now forced him to retire.
“At this point, with the calendar and the healing process, it looks as though it’s permanent,” he noted, per the Bills’ official website. “I’m just unable to play football at a high level, and it’s time. When you know you know. I was really battling and competing and working to come back from that (ACL) injury, only to be kind of struck with an even more disastrous injury. But at the end of the day, there was a lot of negative emotions and anger…doing a lot of reflecting lately and looking back on it, I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons from it.
“Football is something that I’ve loved and put my life into. And I put a lot of time, effort and energy to try to get back on the field. But ultimately, that’s really not the plan God has for me, and I know that to be true. I feel that this is the time to announce it and move on.”
Tommy Doyle hasn’t played since the third week of the 2022 regular season. Fortunately, he is eligible for an NFL pension, as time on the injured reserve or PUP list counts toward the three seasons required to earn one.
Doyle experienced the best moment of his career when he made a reception en route to a touchdown during a Wild Card playoff outing against the New England Patriots in 2021.
The tackle caught a one-yard pass from quarterback Josh Allen in the fourth quarter to help beat the Pats 47-17 and advance to the next round.
While the situation is unfortunate, it’s what’s best for the player, given the severity of the damage to his knee.
He claims to have learned while injured that his identity extends beyond football, which suggests he has come to terms with the way his career panned out.
We wish him all the best.
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