Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman BJ Thompson is awake and responsive one day after suffering a seizure and going into cardiac arrest during a special teams meeting, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Friday, per Thompson’s agent.
Chiefs vice president of sports medicine and performance Rick Burkholder told reporters on Friday that Thompson was heavily sedated at a local hospital on Thursday and overnight following the incident and was on a ventilator overnight to assist with his breathing, but that has since been removed.
“He’s awake and he’s alert,” Burkholder said. “He’s headed in the absolute right direction.”
Burkholder explained the scary situation on Thursday, and noted that kicker Harrison Butker alerted the medical staff of Thompson’s condition when the seizure began.
Burkholder said that the staff had to perform CPR on Thompson and used a defibrillator one time after he went into cardiac arrest.
“Our players, our security staff, everybody involved, coaches and staff, they were phenomenal in handling the crisis,” Burkholder said.
Burkholder added that the league mandates teams practice their emergency action plans multiple times a year, and the Chiefs just happened to conduct an exercise on Monday.
“That’s a tough situation, I’ve been through a couple of those before in my time and it’s never fun,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters on Friday. “Thank goodness though, if it had to happen, no better place then right here where he had the support that knows what to do.”
The Chiefs cancelled all team activities scheduled for Thursday following the incident.
Thompson, a 2023 fifth-round pick, appeared in one game during his rookie season.
The reigning Super Bowl champions are currently in Phase 3 of their voluntary offseason program. Mandatory minicamp is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.