Jets honor late Nick Mangold with tribute before game against Browns

Mangold, a two-time All-Pro center who helped lead the Jets to the AFC championship game twice in his 11 seasons with New York, died on Oct. 27 from complications of kidney disease. He was 41.

His death came less than two weeks after he announced on social media that he had kidney disease and needed a transplant. He said he didn’t have any relatives who were able to donate, so he went public with the request for a donor with type O blood.

Mangold’s funeral was Tuesday and several of his former teammates attended the service in Madison, New Jersey.

The Jets honored Mangold before the singing of the national anthem Sunday with a massive No. 74 banner on the field and unfurled a large picture of the former center in the stands behind one of the end zones. A video tribute was played and former left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, who was drafted with Mangold in the first round in 2006, spoke briefly about his former teammate and good friend.

Several fans in the stands wore No. 74 Mangold jerseys and the Jets gave out white T-shirts with a drawing of Mangold's face — hat backward and wearing sunglasses — to fans. Jets tight end Jeremy Ruckert, who went to Ohio State — Mangold's alma mater — arrived to the stadium wearing a red Buckeyes No. 55 jersey, Mangold's number in college.

Mangold was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times. He helped lead New York within one win of the Super Bowl during both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He retired in 2018 and was enshrined in the Jets’ ring of honor in 2022.

Mangold was among 52 modern-era players who recently advanced in the voting process for next year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class.

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