Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman BJ Thompson has been released from the hospital less than one week after suffering cardiac arrest at the team’s practice facility.
Thompson, 25, was discharged on the evening of Monday, June 10, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Pelissero called it a “significant step” as Thompson continues “to progress on the road to recovery.”
Thompson had a seizure and went into cardiac arrest during a special teams meeting at the Chiefs’ practice facility on Thursday, June 6.
The Kansas City Chiefs have stayed busy since winning the 2024 Super Bowl — and they’re already getting back to work. Just three months after securing their second consecutive NFL championship, several team members, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes, returned to the Chiefs facility for organized team activities (OTAs) before the 2024/2025 NFL season. “The work […]
According to an earlier report from Pelissero, the team’s medical staff “worked quickly” and an ambulance was called to transport Thompson to the hospital.
That evening, Thompson was still “unconscious,” per his agent Chris Turnage, and Thompson’s family requested “continued prayers.”
Pelissero reported on Friday, June 7, however, that Thompson was “awake and responsive.”
After the incident at the practice facility, Chiefs head trainer Rick Burkholder gave insight into exactly what went down.
“When he had this seizure, [Chiefs kicker Harrison] Butker immediately ran towards the training room and grabbed Julie Frymyer and David Glover and then grabbed me,” Burkholder said in a Friday press conference.
Frymyer and Glover are both assistant athletic trainers with the Chiefs.
“As a team, we tried to stabilize BJ and then put him on the floor while he was still seizing and then he went into cardiac arrest,” Burkholder continued. “Our team of that group of people provided CPR for him. He had one AED [automated external defibrillator] shock and came back. So he was only in cardiac arrest for probably less than a minute, minute-and-a-half.”
Once at the hospital, Burkholder said Thompson was “heavily sedated” and “on a ventilator overnight.”
“We don’t have a diagnosis. Sometimes in medicine you don’t have that,” Burkholder explained. “But he’s awake, he’s alert and he’s headed in the absolute right direction.”
A third-round draft pick by Kansas City in 2023, Thompson saw his first career action when the Chiefs played the Los Angeles Chargers in January. He recorded two tackles during the game.
Thompson accompanied his Chiefs teammates, including Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, when they visited the White House last month to celebrate their second consecutive Super Bowl title.
The lineman posted a series of photos from the big day via Instagram on June 1, captioned: “Posted at the White House got me feeling like the president 👔.”
Amid Thompson’s recovery, the Chiefs partook in media day on Monday before kicking off their mandatory mini camp on Tuesday, June 11.
