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

Andy Nesbitt | Oct 14, 2024

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."

Jim Harbaugh said he has atrial flutter, a type of arrhythmia that causes the upper chambers of the heart to beat 250 to 350 times per minute. A flare up today is what caused him to leave the game. pic.twitter.com/YiGDPab4d3

— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) October 13, 2024

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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