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The NFL world continues to mourn the loss of Nick Mangold. The former New York Jets center passed away on October 25 from complications related to chronic kidney disease at the age of 41.
An All-American at Ohio State, Mangold was selected in the first round of the 2006 draft by the Jets. New York had two first-round picks that year, adding Mangold and OT D’Brickashaw Ferguson. Nick and Brick would anchor the Jets’ offensive line for the next decade.
After the All-Pro’s passing, fellow center Jason Kelce paid tribute to Mangold on his New Heights podcast. “Nick was phenomenal. He was unbelievable in pass protection, he was an unbelievably smart leader… and he would murder people in the run game. He was unbelievable when he was in the NFL, he was unbelievable at Ohio State,” Kelce said. “It’s just a travesty that this happened at such a young age.”
Speaking with his brother Travis, Kelce discussed his fellow Ohio native’s talent at center. “You wanna talk about one of the stalwart, best offensive lineman to ever play the game. A lot of people come up and tell me, ‘You’re the best center to ever play.’ Like, I get that from other people. And it’s hard to receive that, because I know in my heart that Nick Mangold at his best was 10 times the player that I ever was. Like, I could never be that dominant at the center position,” Kelce acknowledged.
“When you think about offensive lineman over the past two decades, like the best of the best, you don’t look any further than Nick Mangold.”
Mangold made seven Pro Bowls in his 11-year career. He was a fixture at center for the Jets, missing just four games over his first 10 seasons in the NFL.
Mangold was a key contributor to New York’s success under Rex Ryan, helping the team reach the AFC Championship Game in back-to-back seasons. However, the Jets fell just short of the Super Bowl, losing to the Indianapolis Colts in 2009 and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010.
New York hasn’t reached the postseason since advancing to the Championship Game in 2010. Mangold was the starting center for the Jets during the team’s last winning season, in 2015.
While a Super Bowl title eluded Mangold in New York, he won a National Championship with Ohio State in 2002. The Jets inducted the franchise legend into their Ring of Honor in 2022.
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