Jim Harbaugh Opened Up About Scary Health Issue That Briefly Took Him Out of Game

Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers improved to 3-2 on the season with Sunday's win over the Broncos.
Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers improved to 3-2 on the season with Sunday's win over the Broncos. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Chargers improved to 3-2 on the season with a 23-16 victory on the road over the Denver Broncos on Sunday. While it was a nice win for Jim Harbaugh's team, the coach's health was a bigger story as he briefly had to leave the game in the first quarter to be seen by doctors.

Harbaugh opened up about what happened while talking to reporters after the game:

"It's called atrial flutter," Harbaugh said of a heart condition he has dealt with over the years. "I got into an episode today with it. Doctors checked me out and it got back into a sinus rhythm, normal rhythm, so I came back."

Harbaugh's brother, John Harbaugh, left his postgame press conference early after learning about his older brother's health issue.

Thankfully Jim Harbaugh was OK and was able to get back to work on the sideline. He even cracked a joke about it after the win:

"I had a couple ablations, one in 1999 and one in 2012," he said. "I'll always remember the one in 2012, it was during the Monday night game. Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers versus the Chicago Bears, and Colin had a great night that night. After the game, got checked out. Ended up having to have an ablation for that one because it didn't go back into rhythm, but 2-0 with arrhythmias."

The Chargers are back in action next Monday night when they travel to Arizona to face the Cardinals.


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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.