Reports: Vikings' Udeze has leukemia

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Minnesota Vikings defensive end Kenechi Udeze has been diagnosed with leukemia, two Twin Cities television stations reported.

Udeze, 24, had tests done at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., last week and was in a suburban Minnesota hospital early this week for additional examinations, KMSP-TV, Minneapolis, reported. KSTP-TV, St. Paul, said doctors were administering tests to determine the severity of the disease.

Leukemia is a cancer of the blood but neither report said what kind of leukemia had been diagnosed.

Udeze was a first-round draft choice by the Vikings in 2004, after playing three seasons at Southern California. He played in all 16 of the Vikings' games last season and has a total of 117 tackles and 11 sacks in his 51-game NFL career.