The Bills have lost all contact with tackle Seantrel Henderson

Players retire or fade away from the NFL, sometimes in their athletic prime, but rarely do they disappear.

The Buffalo Bills don’t know where offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson is, the Buffalo News reported. Weeks after offseason training started, the Bills have yet to get in contact with the 24-year-old tackle, who has started 26 games the past two seasons. Henderson was once one of the top recruits in the 2010 high school class, played at Miami and eventually tumbled to the seventh round of the 2014 draft after multiple failed drug tests. He seemed to have his NFL career on track however, but then he went MIA.

The Buffalo News said coach Rex Ryan hasn’t talked to Henderson since last season and teammates haven’t heard much from him either. Ty Dunne of the Buffalo News wrote that some Bills players “aren’t sure when or if he’ll be back.” Henderson’s battle with Crohn’s disease is cited by Dunne as a likely reason he hasn’t been heard from. 

“I can’t really recall talking to him,” Ryan said. “I think he has been in since then but I haven’t talked to him personally.”

The Buffalo News reported that Henderson might have had surgery for Crohn’s disease this offseason. Crohn’s disease caused Henderson to miss the final five games last season.

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If the absence is related to Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract, it doesn’t completely explain the radio silence. Plenty of players deal with medical conditions, but very few quit returning calls from their head coach and teammates. Henderson has basically abandoned his NFL job, it seems. 

There are plenty of stories of players quitting, but Henderson’s tale is an unusual one.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab