Longtime New York Jets center Nick Mangold retired from the NFL this week. A very serious ankle injury, that just wouldn’t heal right, ended the career of the seven-time Pro Bowler.
While 34 is old in the NFL, it’s not in the real world, so what are Mangold’s career plans moving forward?
Politics are a possibility.
Mangold was a big supporter of President Donald Trump in the last Presidential election. In fact, Mangold introduced Trump at a March 13, 2016 rally in Vandalia, Ohio. While Mangold lives in New Jersey now, he grew up in the Dayton-area, and played college ball at Ohio State.
In his introduction, Mangold called Trump “number one at his position” and “a great person.”
In February of this year, there were reports that Mangold would run for the N.J. congressional seat vacated by Rodney Frelinghuysen’s retirement.
Mangold says that story was blown out of proportion based on a brief conversation with Essex County Republican Chairman Al Barlas.
“I found it funny when that came out, because that was based off a five-minute conversation,” Mangold said at his NFL retirement press conference on Tuesday. “Next thing I knew, I was getting phone calls and headlines and stuff.”
One of the reasons Mangold is retiring, aside from ankle problems, is to spend more time with his family. So running for congress isn’t something he’s looking to do right now.
And also, if he runs for office as a Republican in New Jersey, political operatives would likely look to destroy him and make life miserable for his family. As a dedicated husband and father of three, why would he want to do to that to his family? This dynamic keeps many qualified people out of politics.
Plus, he still needs to get his degree.
“I got a good chuckle out of [the Congress rumors), especially since, technically, I haven’t graduated college yet,” Mangold said. “So I don’t think I’m qualified. That’s probably also in the future, taking that one class, so I can graduate.”
Aside from getting his degree, he’s also looking forward to improving his golf game.
“My golf game has really suffered because of football, so I’m looking forward to improving on that,” he said. “But after that, I don’t know. It’s funny being retired at 34, and your career is over at 34, when there is still so much left to do. I don’t know what the future holds. Right now, I’ve enjoyed my time with my [three] kids, and I think I’ll continue doing that.”
But he hasn’t ruled out a run for public office in the future.
“I don’t know,” said Mangold. “We’ll see where the road leads.”