The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs say lineman BJ Thompson is “headed in the absolute right direction” a day after suffering sudden cardiac arrest.
The Chiefs had called off all team activities on Thursday after Thompson suffered a seizure during a meeting and went into cardiac arrest.
Rick Burkholder, the NFL team’s vice president of sports medicine and performance, gave a positive update on Thompson’s condition after team practice on Friday.
“He’s alert, he’s awake and he’s coming through quite well,” Burkholder said. “He’s headed in the absolute right direction.”
Thompson, a 25-year-old defensive end selected in the fifth round of last year’s NFL Draft, played one game and made two tackles for the Chiefs last season, when the club captured a second consecutive Super Bowl title.
Chiefs medical staff worked to stabilize Thompson until an ambulance arrived, and Burkholder praised their efforts.
“Our players, our security staff, our coaching staff and everybody involved was phenomenal in handling the crisis,” Burkholder said, adding that Chiefs personnel had conducted a NFL-mandated emergency action plan practice on Monday.
