Ex-Panthers star, Fox broadcaster Greg Olsen said son TJ 'doing really well' after heart transplant
Former Carolina Panthers tight end and new Fox Sports broadcaster Greg Olsen said his son, TJ, is “doing really well” about five months after the child underwent a heart transplant.
Olsen told USA Today on Sunday that his 9-year-old son is back in school and is living a “fairly normal life all things considered.”
“He’s really doing well,” Olsen said, via USA Today. “We kind of go checkup at a time. So far, the checkups have gone really well and the doctors are happy with how his body’s kind of healing and adapting to a new heart.
“It’s a wild thing, but he’s doing really well.”
TJ was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital heart defect, and has had trouble ever since he was born. He underwent three open-heart surgeries before he turned 3 years old.
Olsen said in May that his son’s heart was “reaching its end” and that they’d need a donor heart — something they successfully found in June.
Someone has an update pic.twitter.com/L1Zk2AgHpd
— Greg Olsen (@gregolsen88) June 7, 2021
Olsen played in the league for 14 seasons before he retired after the 2020 season, his one and only playing for the Seattle Seahawks after long stints with the Chicago Bears and Panthers. He’s now on Fox Sports’ No. 2 broadcast team with Kevin Burkhardt, something that he and his family are thankful for considering he can now spend more time at home.
“I think [his retirement came] at a good time,” Olsen’s father, Chris, told USA Today. “TJ is doing better now. Starting to put on some weight, starting to get some strength back. The doctors told us it was going to be a process. They said it was going to be a year or so before we started getting back to where we need him to be.”
So far, though, it sounds like TJ is well on his way.
“In that regard, it’s really nice for the home life,” Olsen said, via USA Today.
