Reuters

The beleaguered Chargers offensive line will have to replace its best player next season.

Kris Dielman will confirm the retirement rumors that have swirled around him at a Thursday press conference, according to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

It’s a sobering reminder how fragile an NFL career can be. Dielman suffered a concussion on October 23 against the Jets. He stayed in the game and wound up suffering a seizure on the flight back to San Diego. Now his career is over.

Acee pays tribute to Dielman in a great article Tuesday that we highly recommend checking out.

“Dielman is retiring, and I’m going to have to consider retiring the word “nasty” as it describes a football player. He has been my standard for applying that adjective,” Acee writes.

The Chargers owed Dielman $5.5 million in 2012. The team now has more salary cap room, but they lose a player that will be very difficult to replace.