Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Tommy Doyle’s career has come to an end.

A fifth-round pick in 2021, Doyle was forced to hang up his cleats and retire well before he had probably imagined.

The retirement comes after Doyle experienced nerve damage in his left leg following a severe injury in the 2023 preseason. Before that, Doyle missed the majority of the 2022 season with an ACL injury to his right knee.

Doyle, once viewed as a promising late-round depth piece on the offensive line, ends his career at 26 years old with just 12 games played, 11 of them in his rookie year.

He can, however, say that he scored an NFL touchdown, which not many offensive linemen can say. He was on the receiving end of a goal line pass from Josh Allen against the New England Patriots in the 47-17 blowout win in the 2021 wildcard round.

Doyle has come to grips with his new reality and says he has learned a lot from the pain he’s endured over the last couple of years.

“I’m just unable to play football at a high level, and it’s time. When you know you know,” Doyle told Bills media. “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. [I’ve done] a lot of reflecting lately and looking back on it, I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons from it.”

As the Bills enter the 2025 season without Doyle on the roster, you may find him outside the stadium tailgating at one of your favorite spots. He said on X last week that he “can’t wait to tailgate with Bills Mafia finally”.