Buffalo Bills star Tommy Doyle forced to medically retire from NFL at 26

Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Tommy Doyle has been forced to medically retire from the NFL.

Doyle, 26, was a fifth-round draft pick back in 2021 but only managed to play in 12 games for the Bills in his short career.

He tore his ACL against the Miami Dolphins in Week 3 of the 2022 season before then suffering a severe leg injury during pre-season in 2023.

The leg injury has left Doyle with nerve damage and he paid an emotional goodbye to Bills fans on Friday.

He said: ‘At this point, with the calendar and the healing process, it looks as though it’s permanent.

‘I’m just unable to play football at a high level, and it’s time. When you know you know.’ 

He continued: ‘I was really battling and competing and working to come back from that (ACL) injury, only to be kind of struck with an even more disastrous injury.

‘But at the end of the day, there was a lot of negative emotions and anger…doing a lot of reflecting lately and looking back on it, I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons from it.’

Doyle’s greatest moment came in January 2022 when he caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen in Buffalo’s wild-card win over the Patriots.

Before being drafted by the Bills, Doyle played college football for the Miami RedHawks.