Chargers Coach Jim Harbaugh Briefly Leaves Game with Heart Arrhythmia, Will Likely ‘Need Another’ Procedure

Mar. 15, 2025

Jim Harbaugh.Photo:AP Photo/David Zalubowski

AP Photo/David Zalubowski

Los Angeles Chargers head coachJim Harbaughbriefly left Sunday afternoon’s game against the Denver Broncos because of a flare up withatrial flutter, a type of heart arrhythmia that makes the heart beat irregularly fast.

He returned later in the first quarter and continued to coach the remainder of the game.After the Chargers’ 23-16 win over the Broncos, Harbaughtold reportershe began feeling symptoms on Saturday night and then “could tell there were some irregular beats” with his heart during the pregame warmups, so he went to the medical tent to consult with the team’s medical staff.

Jim Harbaugh.AP Photo/David Zalubowski

“Everything turned out to be OK,”the NFL coach said. “I deal with this, I guess minor…it’s called atrial flutter and I got into an episode today with it. Doctors checked me out and it got back into sinus rhythm, normal rhythm, so I came back.”Harbaugh said he received an IV treatment, as well as an EKG from paramedics who cleared him to return to the game.

The coach knew what he was feeling because he’s felt it before, he told reporters. Harbaugh said when he was the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers in 2012, he also felt the same arrhythmia during aMonday Night Footballgame against the Chicago Bears.

Harbaugh’s team won that game as well, prompting the longtime coach to joke Sunday that he’s now “2-0 with arrhythmias.”

Thelongtime NFL quarterback-turned-coachneeded to have an ablation after the 2012 incident, he said, because his heart “didn’t go back into rhythm.” Harbaugh also had an ablation in 1999 when he was a player for the Chargers, he told reporters, adding that given his timeline he figured he may have another episode soon.

“I figured I was getting to the 13-year mark and I was going to need another [ablation] at some point,” Harbaugh said.

Jim Harbaugh.AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post/Getty

AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post/Getty

The coach told reporters that Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz called Harbaugh’s brother, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, to let him know about the issue, and happened to dial him during his team’s postgame press conference. John then called their parents to let them know he was having an episode, Harbaugh said.

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Chargers players said they were mostly unaware of the situation until they were asked about it after the game.

“He’s tough,” starting quarterbackJustin Herbertsaid. “He did a really good job of hiding that then because I was unaware of it. They did a good job of keeping calm. I hope he’s okay.”

source: people.com