Running Back for the football team at the Pennsylvania State University, Journey Brown will be quitting football for medical reasons, the head coach of the team announced on Wednesday. The school had made a similar announcement in October that Brown will not be playing for the season as a result of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. According to the announcement, Brown’s condition was detected during a routine coronavirus test mandated for the Big Ten athletes.
James Franklin, head coach of the team explained that though the disease was detected during a COVID-19 test, it is unrelated to it and Brown will have to end his football career due to the disease. Coach Franklin explained that Brown who is one of the most famous and revered players on the team was diagnosed in early September while being tested for COVID-19.
“He was being tested for COVID-19 in the first week of September when the doctors discovered the condition, though it is not related to the virus,” Franklin explained. “Since then, we have been dealing with the news, together, as a team. The journey is a famous and respected player, and we have all shown our support for him and his family during these difficult times.”
According to medical practitioners at the Mayo Clinic and WebMD, Journey’s condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is marked by the thickening of the walls of the heart causing abnormal functioning of the organ which subsequently leads to a constriction in the normal rate of blood flow.
Brown’s career with Penn State has been brief but successful. He started 10 matches for the team during the last season and led with 890 yards and twelve touchdowns, ESPN writes. The 5 feet 11 inches player told his followers on social media about his condition on Wednesday. In a long, heartfelt post, Brown wrote about how helpful football has been for him and how he has always looked forward to playing in the NFL only to have his dreams cut short.
“I have always craved the time when I will be able to live my dream and work towards playing in the NFL, but that can never happen because of my diagnosis,” Brown stated. “I have to quit the sport and it hurts so much because it has been more than a game for me, it has been a lifestyle.”
The heartbroken player also wrote about the hard work he put into the game and how he leaves without regrets knowing he did his best. Penn State has had the season without Brown, and Noah Cain another running back also got injured. That leaves the run game to Devyn Ford and quarterback, Sean Clifford. For this season, the team has 388 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.
Source: nbcsports.com
