NEW YORK - Buffalo Bills center Eric Wood said Friday he has been forced to retire from the NFL after a nine-season career due to a neck injury discovered in a season-ending physical.
The 31-year-old blocker, selected to the Pro Bowl all-star game in 2015, started 120 of his NFL appearances with the Bills, including every game of the 2017 campaign.
Wood started all 16 regular-season games in 2017 without missing a single play. His final game was his first playoff contest, and the first for the Bills since 1999 -- a first-round loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Wood, a first-round selection and 28th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft, said that Bills team doctor Andrew Cappuccino and other physicians said he would not be allowed to play again in the NFL.
"I was informed that I was no longer cleared to play football, even with surgery or further treatment," Wood said.
"I appreciate and thank everyone for their thoughts, concerns and prayers."
Wood had been used at right and left guard before making the offensive line transition to center in 2011. He had signed a two-year contract extension worth $16 million last August. (AFP)