Saints defensive tackle Nick Fairley has been sidelined from the club’s organized team activities with a heart issue that could threaten his career, according to Jennifer Hale of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
Fairley has dealt with this condition for his entire NFL career, as the issue was originally detected during the predraft process in 2011, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links). The veteran defensive tackle recently saw a doctor who wanted to run further tests regarding the ailment, says Rapoport. Fairley has reportedly not communicated his health struggles with his New Orleans teammates, as Saints players who regularly speak with Fairley have not heard from him, tweets Mike Garafolo of NFL.com.
Fairley, 29, started 16 games and posted 6.5 sacks during his first campaign with the Saints, grading as the league’s No. 34 interior defender among 127 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. He re-signed with New Orleans this spring, inking a four-year, $28MM deal that contains $9MM in guarantees.
Though I do not like him on the field for his play against Georgia back when he was at auburn, I sincerely hope his career can go on. This is his living and I hate to see a man lose his dream and his living for his health. Prayers go out to him