Doctors Advise NFL Prospect to Retire

Brian Mandeville, a tight end from Northeastern who declared for the NFL draft and earned an invite to the combine, has been advised by doctors there to stop pursuing his NFL dream because of "an issue with one of his heart valves."

The combine is where most of the top prospects in the upcoming draft are poked and prodded by doctors, as teams are rigorous in their quest to put together as comprehensive of a profile on every player as possible. During a routine exam, doctors saw something they didn't like with Mandeville's heart and took a better look. Because of their discovery, Mandeville has been told a career in football is not in his best physical interest.

His agent, Ryan Tollner of Rep 1 Sports Group, said just minutes ago that the medical issues now facing Mandeville are not life-threatening.

"Brian will fly back to California and be examined by heart specialists to completely diagnose the issue. Obviously his well being is priority number one at this time."

The general consensus had Mandeville ranked in the 15-20 range as far as tight ends in the 2009 draft. NFL Draft Countdown and Walter Football had him ranked 13th and 20th, respectively, while Consensus Draft Services listed him as a likely fourth-round selection. He was considered one of the more talented small-school prospects and an NFL-capable player with possible starter ability.

While it's obviously most important that Mandeville's condition isn't life-threatening, it has to be tough for the tight end to give up on his NFL career before it even began. Meanwhile, say what you want about how ridiculously intricate the draft evaluation has become, but, despite the motivations, the league's obsession with detail might have saved Mandeville's life before something happened on the NFL field.

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