The Los Angeles Chargers had a major scare earlier this season when head coach Jim Harbaugh was forced to exit a game against the Denver Broncos due to a flare-up with atrial flutter, a particular sort of arrhythmia that causes the heart to beat abnormally fast.
Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter, who was on Harbaugh’s staff with the Michigan Wolverines in the same capacity, stepped in as the interim coach. Per ESPN, paramedics treated Harbaugh in the locker room.
The coach received an electrocardiogram scan and they were able to return his heart to a normal rhythm, allowing him to return and coach the remainder of the game.
After the incident, Harbaugh wore a heart monitor for two weeks.
It wasn’t Harbaugh’s first heart trouble as an NFL coach. In 2012 while coaching the San Francisco 49ers, Harbaugh felt an irregular heartbeat on the sidelines but decided to coach out the game, instead electing to tell doctors afterward.
Now, Harbaugh is taking the proper steps to address his heart troubles. He revealed to reporters on Wednesday that during the offseason he will undergo a cardiac ablation as well as hip replacement surgery.
Harbaugh currently walks with a limp due to his hip, but the replacement should correct this. The coach has previously stated that his health would not force him to consider retirement.
“It would take my heart stopping for me not to be out there on the sideline,” the coach said in October.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.