{"id":27801,"date":"2025-11-04T03:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T03:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/27801\/"},"modified":"2025-11-04T03:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T03:27:10","slug":"jets-legend-nick-mangold-mourned-by-teammates-fans-at-new-jersey-wake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/27801\/","title":{"rendered":"Jets legend Nick Mangold mourned by teammates, fans at New Jersey wake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nick Mangold’s family, friends and former New York Jets teammates celebrated his life and legacy at a wake for the legendary center, who died from complications of kidney disease on Oct. 25<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mangold, 41, was a big presence on the field and off, and at St. Vincent Martyr Church in Madison, New Jersey, where he was a parishioner and volunteer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He was the heart and soul of the Jets”<\/p>\n

The long line of mourners at the church Monday included former players, friends, fans and others from the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Just a great kid. Like a little brother to me. Really enjoyed my time with Nick. It was obvious early on he was going to be a special player. He had the physical maturity, the mental maturity, the football IQ,” Pete Kendall, another former Jet, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We always talked about him running for office because he had such a way with people and always wanted to do good for people,” Hope Township Mayor Timothy McDonough, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He was the heart and soul of the Jets. He knew how to make the team go,” Greg Packer, a Jets fan, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

Center Nick Mangold #74 of the New York Jets looks on from the sideline during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on October 9, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

George Gojkovich \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Mangold, the Jets’ 2006 first-round pick from Ohio State, was widely regarded as one of the best centers in the NFL when he played. He earned multiple Pro Bowl selections during his 11-year career before he retired in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He had been undergoing dialysis treatments since the spring and days before his death posted on social media, “In 2006, I was diagnosed with a genetic defect that has led to chronic kidney disease … I’m undergoing dialysis as we look for a kidney transplant. I always knew this day would come, but I thought I would have more time.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

He was married to his high school sweetheart, Jennifer. They have four children.<\/p>\n

“Very kind and generous in his words”<\/p>\n

Mangold also coached a Delbarton in Morris County before he died.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He was a quiet guy, but very kind and generous in his words, and he was very smart,” one student said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“He always coached very truthfully, but also was just a very genuine person, just always there to support everyone and better the whole team,” another student said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mangold’s funeral will be held at the church on Tuesday. It is reserved for invited family and friends, but there will be a livestream of the Mass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nick Mangold’s family, friends and former New York Jets teammates celebrated his life and legacy at a wake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8919,9,11,430,10],"class_list":{"0":"post-27801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-national-football-league","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-jets","12":"tag-new-york-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}