Jaguars DE Rodney Gunter announces retirement due to potentially life-threatening heart condition – Yahoo Sports

Rodney Gunter needs heart surgery to have a possibility at playing football again. He doesnt yet certify. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) More.
More from Yahoo Sports:.

So at 28 years of ages, Gunter finds himself in the surreal position of needing to wait up until his aorta is enlarged another half-centimeter before he can receive the surgical treatment, which might possibly give him a chance at playing football again.

” These last three weeks have actually been a tough tablet to swallow,” Gunter wrote. “Seeing my dreams vanish right in front of me has been exceptionally challenging.”
Gunter was set to play his 6th season in the NFL this year after signing a three-year offer with the Jaguars as part of the teams strategy to replace left Pro Bowlers Calais Campbell and Marcell Dareus. In five seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, Gunter published 126 tackles, 26 deals with for loss and 13.0 sacks.

Jacksonville Jaguars protective end Rodney Gunter revealed Sunday that he has been required to hang up his cleats after being identified with a potentially lethal heart condition.
The condition was referred to as an augmentation of Gunters aorta and includes the danger of rupturing or tearing the important blood vessel if he continues to play football. There is supposedly a surgical treatment with a 50 percent chance of fixing the issue, but Gunter stated that his aorta is not yet bigger sufficient to get approved for the operation.