Nick Mangold mourned by heartbroken Jets teammates at funeral after shock death at age 41

Former New York Jets and Ohio State Buckeyes teammates of Nick Mangold were among more than 400 attendees on hand for the beloved offensive lineman's funeral in New Jersey on Tuesday.

'To help me today, I'm gonna use a little inspiration from Nick,' Hall of Famer Alan Faneca told mourners at St. Vincent Martyr as he copied his friend's signature look with a backwards Jets hat. 'I think he'd approve.'

Mangold passed away at 41 on October 25 due to complications from kidney disease – something he'd only recently acknowledged publicly.

As reported by ESPN's Rich Cimini, Jets greats like Darrelle Revis, Chad Pennington, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Willie Colon, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Damien Woody, Bart Scott, Jay Feely, Calvin Pace and Nick Folk were in attendance, not to mention former head coach Rex Ryan.

Fitzpatrick recited a passage from the Book of Proverbs at the ceremony, but it was Faneca's eulogy that proved most memorable.

'Nick had this special ability to make everyone feel seen, valued and cared for,' Faneca said. 'He had a gift for turning ordinary moments into memories, through his humor, kindness and his genuine heart.'

But Faneca was just one of many to share his memories of Mangold this week. Former Ohio State receiver Roy Hall Jr. followed on Wednesday with a touching social media post about the man he called his 'Buckeye brother.'

'Nick was a National Champion and an All-Pro, but his greatest victories were as a husband, father, and servant,' Hall wrote. 'Fulfillment doesn't come from what you earn, but from who you impact. Legacy isn't built by status, it's built by service. May we all live with that kind of purpose.'

Mangold leaves behind his wife, Jennifer, and their children Matthew, Eloise, Thomas and Charlotte.

He'd largely kept his kidney problems a secret prior to last month, when he admitted to undergoing dialysis as he searched for a donor. Speaking to the New York Post's Steve Serby, Mangold stressed his situation wasn't dire.

'It's more just to get it done, rather than [a] life-or-death situation,' the married father of four told Serby after publicly seeking a donor online. 'Apparently you can be on dialysis for many years. It's quality of life that we're looking at.

'I assumed I'd be like 60 or so before it came up,' Mangold continued. 'But it's reared its ugly head now, sooner than I thought it would.

Mangold was unable to get a kidney from any relatives, none of whom were found to be a match.

'I don't think anybody knew about it other than the doctors and my family,' Mangold added. 'I didn't want any cloud hanging over anything that I did.'

Mangold dropped about 35 pounds in two months over the summer. That, coupled with a reduced red blood cell count and spells of fatigue, dizziness and nausea prompted him to go to the doctor, where he learned he'd need a kidney.

The former Ohio State star admitted to being frightened by the news.

'Oh, very much so,' Mangold said. 'Getting told to go to the hospital immediately was not a great phone call to get. I don't particularly like surgery, so that's always scary. You put the trust in the doctors' hands.'

But even after that ordeal, Mangold remained optimistic, telling Serby he was 'fortunate' to 'have a path to recovery.

'There's a lot of people that go through illness and different things that there isn't a direct path to how you get better,' he said. 'I have a direct path, I just need to go on that path.'

Sadly, that was Mangold's final public interview.