BJ Thompson suffered a seizure and an episode of cardiac arrest last week while at organized team activities for the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, after a few days of recuperation, he will return to his own home to start this week.
Per Dov Kleiman on Twitter, Thompson is “doing great” and “will return home tomorrow” after his medical incident from the past few days.
Kansas City cancelled activities on Thursday due to the emergency involving Thompson. The seizure that he suffered caused him to go into cardiac arrest during a meeting. The franchise’s training and medical staff then tended to him before personnel arrived with an ambulance to bring him to a local hospital.
Chris Turnage, Thompson’s agent, said later on Thursday that his client was “still unconscious” but that he was “stable and vitals are good”. Then, on Friday, more positive news came with Thompson waking up and being responsive. Since then over the past few days, Thompson has been “trending upward”.
Thompson was a fifth-round selection by the Chiefs in the 2023 NFL Draft. They took him with the 31st pick in the round and 166th overall selection after a collegiate career at Baylor and Stephen F. Austin.
In his rookie season as a pro, Thompson appeared in just one game. He recorded two tackles in the season finale in Week 17 against the Los Angeles Chargers. However, it did result in a ring for him in the end after the Chiefs went back-to-back this season in Super Bowl LVIII.
This was a scary start to Thompson’s second year as a professional with Kansas City. It can hopefully get back on schedule soon, though, with him now set to leave the hospital to start this upcoming week.
More on Thompson’s latest status
The Kansas City Chiefs received good news on Friday afternoon.
DE BJ Thompson is now awake and responsive after his medical scare on Thursday at OTAs. Thompson’s agent, Chris Turnage, provided an update to NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero, sharing that the defender’s prognosis is good after he had a seizure and went into cardiac arrest.
The former undrafted rookie free agent had the medical emergency during a special teams meeting on Thursday. Kansas City’s medical and training staffs tended to Thompson until an ambulance arrived to take him to a local hospital where he was put in stable condition. The team canceled the on-field practice that they had schedule and pushed it to Friday. They also moved media availability for Andy Reid and players to Friday as well.
On Thursday afternoon, Turnage told Pelissero that Thompson was stable, but still unconscious at the hospital.
“BJ is still unconscious at this point, but he’s stable and vitals are good. His family asks for your continued prayers,” Turnage said on Thursday.
