Billy Price, a center who was selected by the Bengals in the first round in 2018, is retiring from the NFL at the age of 29.
Price shared that a health scare has led him to conclude that it’s unsafe for him to continue playing, so he has decided to step away.
“Everything can change in an instant,” Price wrote on social media. “On April 24th, I underwent emergency pulmonary embolism surgery to remove a saddle clot that was moving into both of my lungs.
As a healthy 29-year-old, experiencing an unprovoked pulmonary embolism with no clear medical cause is frightening. I am incredibly grateful to be alive today.
Unfortunately, I will be leaving the NFL because the risk of internal bleeding while taking blood thinners poses a significant danger.
I am sincerely grateful for the chance to have competed in some of the most electrifying environments across the globe. I am thankful to have trained and played alongside men who will continue to achieve Pro Bowl honors, All-Pro selections, and Hall of Fame inductions.”
Price earned the Rimington Trophy as the top center in college football at Ohio State in 2017 and played for the Bengals for three seasons after they drafted him. He then spent one year with the Giants and had brief stints with the Raiders, Cardinals, Saints, and Cowboys.
