On Tuesday, the MSU athletics department announced junior offensive tackle Skyler Burkland has retired from football due to injuries and will forgo his final two years of eligibility.
Burkland applied for medical disqualification on July 30, according to the press release. Once his papers are cleared, Burkland will be permitted to continue his studies at MSU on scholarship. Burkland will not count against the NCAA 85-man football scholarship limit.
“This was a difficult decision for Skyler,” Dantonio said in the press release. “We’ll certainly miss him on the football field, but he’ll remain heavily involved in our program and continue to work on earning his degree.”
A redshirt in 2010, Burkland started the first three games as a redshirt freshman in 2011 before injuring his left ankle vs. Notre Dame and missing the remainder of the year.
Burkland missed the 2012 preseason and first game of the year with a hand injury. He started week 3 and played the remainder of the season for MSU.
Burkland was a major recruit for the MSU football department and was rated among the nation’s top offensive linemen of his class coming out of high school.
Dantonio has seen several lineman forced to retire due to injuries throughout his seven-year tenure, including Nate Klatt, Zach Hueter and David Barren.
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