Report: Former Lions GM Matt Millen Needs Heart Transplant 'Fairly Soon'

Millen was diagnosed with amyloidosis in 2017 and stepped down from his job as a game analyst for the Big Ten Network in early October.

Former NFL linebacker and Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen is under hospital care in New Jersey awaiting a heart transplant and needs one "fairly soon," NBC Sports' Peter King reported on Monday.

According to King, Millen has been in the hospital for 68 days and will remain there until he receives a new heart. In April, Millen told the Morning Call in Pennsylvania that he had been diagnosed with amlyoidosis during the summer of 2017 and that his heart was working at 30 percent of its capacity. Amlyoidosis is the build up of abnormal protein in bone marrow that then spreads to organs and other body tissue, causing them to fail.

Millen, 60, stepped down from his role as a game analyst on the Big Ten Network on Oct. 3 to focus on his health. 

KING: Matt Millen fights for his life: 'It's getting late. We need a big stop.'

King wrote Millen will need the heart transplant "fairly soon" but does not know when exactly that time will be. 

Millen, a Penn State product, was picked in the second round by Oakland in 1980 and was an NFL linebacker for 12 seasons with the Raiders, 49ers and Redskins. Millen is a one-time Pro Bowler and a four-time Super Bowl champion. Following his retirement from the field, Millen was a broadcaster first with CBS and then with FOX. He was hired by the Lions in 2001 to become team president and general manager but was fired mid-2008 during the team's 0–16 campaign.

King reported Millen remains positive as he waits for his heart transplant, spending time in the hospital reading and watching plenty of football.