New York Jets legend Nick Mangold was feeling optimistic about his health in the weeks before his death.
“I’m better than I was in August,” Mangold told the New York Post in a story published on October 14. “I’m back to being a functioning human, which is great.”
Mangold died on Saturday, October 25, from complications of kidney disease. He was 41 years old.
The two-time All Pro selection was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in 2006, but things took a turn for the worse this summer.
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“I had lost about 35 pounds over two months, and my red blood cell count dropped to about half of what is supposed to be normal,” Mangold explained. “I was very fatigued and having dizzy spells and nausea and everything and so I went to the doctor.”
Mangold’s doctor informed him that he needed to start dialysis immediately and begin the hunt for a kidney donor.
“Getting told to go to the hospital immediately was not a great phone call to get,” he recalled. “I don’t particularly like surgery, so that’s always scary. You put the trust in the doctors’ hands.”
In late August, Mangold spent five days at Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, New Jersey, where he underwent three rounds of dialysis. Mangold’s treatments were then performed at an outpatient dialysis center.
Mangold admitted that adjusting to his new way of life had been difficult.
“The diet is very different,” he said. “Your lifestyle’s different, having to go through dialysis three times a week, that’s a job kind of in itself.”
Mangold vowed to attack the process “with the same mentality that I had throughout my career.”
The former NFL star played all 11 of his professional seasons with the Jets before retiring in April 2018.
Mangold took to social media on October 14 to announce that he was actively looking for a kidney donor.
“It’s more just to get it done, rather than a life-or-death situation,” he told the Post. “Apparently you can be on dialysis for many years. It’s quality of life that we’re looking at.”
Mangold added, “In a weird way I’m actually kinda fortunate that I have a path to recovery. There’s a lot of people that go through illness and different things that there isn’t a direct path to how you get better. I have a direct path, I just need to go on that path.”
The New York Jets announced Mangold’s death with a statement on Sunday, October 26.
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“Nick was more than a legendary center,” Jets chairman Woody Johnson said. “He was the heartbeat of our offensive line for a decade and a beloved teammate whose leadership and toughness defined an era of Jets football. Off the field, Nick’s wit, warmth, and unwavering loyalty made him a cherished member of our extended Jets family.”
D’Brickashaw Ferguson, who went to two AFC Championship Games with Mangold as offensive line partners, called his former teammate’s death “a hard time.”
“A big part of our lives were spent on that field,” Ferguson, 41, said in the Jets’ announcement. “Then very early on I was at his wedding, there were so many times where we shared life together, family events. I do appreciate having had the opportunity to do life with him.”
Mangold is survived by his wife, Jenny, and their four children: son Matthew, 14, daughter Eloise, 11, son Thomas, 9, and daughter Charlotte, 7.
