Florida’s fears have been confirmed: offensive tackle Roderick Johnson will not play football again.

Johnson, one of two Gators linemen with starting experience, suffered what the team described as “a stinger” in a scrimmage April 3, reporting numbness in his fingers and hands.

Team medical staff since has diagnosed Johnson with congenital cervical stenosis, which will end his football career, the school announced Tuesday.

“The condition is a narrowing of the spinal canal enveloping the spinal cord, preventing enough fluid to gather around the spinal cord to properly protect it from injury,” the Gators wrote in a release.

“Cervical stenosis ended the career of New York Giants running back David Wilson last year and forced Cooper Manning, the brother of NFL quarterbacks Eli and Peyton Manning, to retire from football during his college career at Ole Miss.”

The 6-foot-6, 296-pound Johnson started three games at right tackle last year. Coach Jim McElwain already had hinted that the April 3 injury would end Johnson’s career, but some Gators fans hoped for a recovery and a fall return.

“One thing I’ll tell you this about any player: I will never, ever put him out there in harm’s way,” McElwain said Saturday following the spring game. “Life’s too short, man. Ain’t gonna do it, ain’t gonna do it to a young guy.”

It’s a tough break for a kid set to play a crucial role for the Gators in the next few seasons, one that also leaves the offensive line shorthanded. Trip Thurman, the only other returning offensive lineman with starting experience, missed spring practice due to an injury, although he should return by the fall.

From there, Florida will rush to prepare a group of six true freshmen, including five-star Martez Ivey.

“That’s a big loss to the team,” quarterback Treon Harris said Saturday, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “Rod was coming back for his third year, it’d be his second year on the field. That loss killed us a lot, so we have to get the young guys ready and the guys coming in in the summer ready to go.”