The fraternity of centers lost a brother over the weekend.
Nick Mangold, a seven-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro and Jets Ring of Honor inductee, passed away at the age of 41.
"I'm in shock like everybody else that this accelerated that quickly," former Giants center Shaun O'Hara said Monday morning in a phone interview. "I certainly thought he had more time to find a donor."
In 2006, Mangold was diagnosed with a genetic defect that led to chronic kidney disease. Two weeks ago, he opened up about his health and posted a message looking for a donor.
"After a rough summer, I'm undergoing dialysis as we look for a kidney transplant," a portion of the statement read. "I always knew this day would come, but I thought I would have more time."
O'Hara saw Mangold less than two months ago at Delbarton School in Morristown, N.J. O'Hara was there with his 12-year-old son, Jack, for a football camp. Mangold was an offensive line coach for the varsity team.
O'Hara said Mangold was talking about maybe getting a shoulder replacement and dealing with an elbow – "just usual joint stuff from 11 years in the NFL."
O'Hara wasn't aware of his condition until the post on Oct. 14.
"I know he's got young kids, and that's what makes this even harder," O'Hara said. "I spent a lot of time yesterday just reflecting on, man, how does somebody this young lose it all and that quickly? It's devastating. I just saw him, and it was a really tough day to digest all that and process all of it."
Eli Manning, whose career also crossed over with Mangold's in the metropolitan area, saw him about six months ago.
"Nothing important, just kind of keeping up and touching base," Manning said. "I saw the news a few weeks ago about him reaching out and having some kidney issues. I feel bad I didn't reach out at that time. I guess I thought I had more time. I did not know the severity of this. When I saw the news on Sunday, just heartbroken for his wife, his kids. We lost a great person."
Manning added: "He just always had a big smile, always had a good story and just great to hang with. I always wanted to make sure I got some time with him because it always led to something special and a special moment. Even after we retired, we lived very close to each other in New Jersey and so I'd see him around town and see him with his family, with his kids. Just one of the great people, great player, and I'm just saddened. I'm really saddened by this."
The Jets selected Mangold out of Ohio State with the 29th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, two years after Manning and O'Hara arrived in East Rutherford.
O'Hara was friends with Pro Football Hall of Fame center and fellow NFLPA player representative Kevin Mawae, whom Mangold succeeded on the Jets.
During one of their events together, O'Hara walked over to Mangold and welcomed him to the club.
"It's kind of like being the quarterback of the Giants or the Jets," O'Hara said. "There's only two of you in the market. Centers always stick together, and Nick and I, we hit it off from the jump. We became friends right away. We kept in touch. We'd text each other throughout the season and watch film on each other and how we handled different defensive guys."
O'Hara added: "There's only one of you on each team. … There's two guards and two tackles and pretty much multiple positions on the roster. Centers, we kind of have our own little fraternity. I was always tight with Jeff Saturday and Kevin Mawae, [Jason] Kelce, Ryan Kalil. We'd all keep in touch and look out for each other and keep tabs on each other. There's definitely a brotherhood of the offensive line, and then even within that, there's a little bit of an extra brotherhood with the centers. Nick always represented well. He was always one of those guys that was the barometer as far as where everybody falls."
The run-ins blossomed to Mangold becoming a regular invite to the annual golf outing to benefit O'Hara's foundation. They also made the same three Pro Bowls from 2008 to 2010.
"Nick was one of those – he was old school, tough as nails, played through a lot of stuff," O'Hara said. "I remember him playing through high ankle injuries. He and I kind of talked about that because I had experienced a couple myself. But he was just one of those leaders that galvanized the group and brought everybody together. He was one of those guys that I know everybody gravitated towards and I know he was a great teammate. I think his play on the field was reflected by all the accolades he got, but he was a great dad, too."
Speaking of Pro Bowls, the NFL went away from rosters based on conference for a few years. It led to Manning taking snaps from Mangold in what would be each player's final Pro Bowl following the 2015 season.
"If you see any center, I think there's kind of a special bond and a connection just because you know what they're dealing with," Manning said. "You can ask them questions, funny things that happened, how they played pranks maybe on the quarterback. Having gotten to play in a Pro Bowl with him and take snaps from him, I think automatically it puts you in a special friendship right there. There's a trust that has to be there on both sides to make sure we're getting the job done and not fumbling snaps. Again, he was just such a fun person to be around. He always had a great attitude. He always had a great story. I'm really going to miss him."
Manning added: "The center is always going to be the leader of the offensive line in a lot of cases. They're making the calls. They kind of make sure everybody is on the same page. You've got to have a great relationship with the quarterback, and so a lot of the stuff starts with the quarterback communicating to the center and we expect them to pass that message along to the rest of the offensive line on different checks, different calls, how we're going to get things done. I felt that same way as a quarterback."
From one center to another, O'Hara described what made Mangold a special player: "Kevin Mawae was super athletic. As strong as he was, he was the guy that was leading the way for Curtis Martin and he was one of the few centers that would pull on plays. Nick could do that, but Nick was just so strong. He was physical. If you looked at him, you wouldn't think that he moved as well as he did. But he was just really smart. He never seemed like he was out of position. He was never off-balance. He could handle the big nose tackles. I mean, you play in the AFC East, he and Vince Wilfork were going at it every day. He was built for that. His power and his intelligence really set him apart."
He also looked the part.
"He had the long hair, the long beard," O'Hara said. "He was very distinguished. Nobody looked at him and mistook him for D'Brickashaw [Ferguson] or anybody else. He was one of one in that capacity. I can't imagine the Jets letting anybody wear that number. … I know he's in the Ring of Honor, but I think 74 should be off-limits from here on out."
"Everybody has a Mangold story," Manning said. "I feel like most recently a lot of ours involved food. He loved food. He loved eating barbecue and his barbecue sauces. I'd see him at a spot, The Committed Pig, which is a great burger joint here in Summit, New Jersey. He was a frequent visitor there. It was very much food-related and kid-related. I know he's got four kids, as I do, so we had that special bond together. That was most of our conversations as of late."
