Westport’s Sean Mulcahy, a 2000 Staples grad and former UConn defensive tackle, is exploring other options after failing his physical with the Cleveland Browns, according to today’s Hartford Courant.
The physical showed lingering effects from a neck injury Mulcahy sustained last fall, the newspaper said.
“I’m going to get some second opinions and hopefully get checked out by some other teams,” Mulcahy said. “There’s a chance I could be done playing ball.”
Mulcahy was selected as a free agent by Cleveland April 25 and reported to a Cleveland mini-camp last Friday.
He underwent a pre-workout physical—and that’s when the bad news came.
An MRI and CT scan revealed Mulcahy has spinal stenosis and a bulging disk in his neck, the result of a stinger he sustained last season, the Courant said.
Spinal stenosis, a pinching of the spinal cord and nerves, can result in numbness or pain.
Mulcahy was surprised by the diagnosis because he has not been in pain and he had been cleared to play in the Blue-Gray All-Star Classic Dec. 25.
“It was pretty distressing,” Mulcahy said of the physical. “They’re real picky. If you’ve got something wrong with you, they’ll just take someone else. They said there are two things you can’t fix – the heart and the neck.”
Mulcahy was injured Oct. 11 against North Carolina State. He played the next four games, but missed the final game against Wake Forest when the stinger worsened.
Mulcahy said the Browns’ doctors didn’t indicate whether his neck would improve with time.
“Things happen for a reason,” Mulcahy said. “It’s just a bump in the road.”
