Minnesota Vikings linebacker Cameron Smith will miss the 2020 season due to a heart issue that was discovered after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this month.
Smith revealed on his Instagram account he has a bicuspid aortic valve that was found during further testing in the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDo8_8Eljww
“It is really a blessing that we found this as my heart is severely enlarged and wouldn’t have lasted much longer,” Smith said in the post. “…The Lord works in mysterious ways, but I could really feel him on this one!”
Smith will undergo open-heart surgery to fix the issue and while the issue will knock him out of the upcoming season, he still plans on playing football once he recovers.
“By no means am I ready to be done playing football,” Smith said. “There is still so much more I want to accomplish on the field. I’m going to attack this like everything else I have in life.”
The USC product was a fifth-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft and made eight tackles in five games for the Vikings in his rookie year. In part to replace Smith on the roster, the Vikings signed linebacker Clinton Polling on Saturday.
