Minnesota Vikings defensive end Kenechi Udeze has officially retired from the NFL at the young age of 26. Udeze has been battling leukemia since February 2008. He missed all of the last season while battling the cancer. Udeze did participate in 2009 minicamps, but the challenging of coming back and competing on an NFL level was too great.

I remember when Udeze came out of USC and was the 20th pick in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft. Draft experts had only good things to say about how he played on the field and his character off the field. He finished his career at USC with 28 sacks, a school record. The guy was an animal and destined to be a Pro Bowl player.

It will be said to see Udeze not in uniform anymore. He says his leukemia is still in remission. But he’s still dealing with side effects from treatment of the disease and is unable to play. It’s not every day players retire early because of an illness. I hope he can use his fame to help increase leukemia awareness and do something wonderful.