KC Chiefs player goes into cardiac arrest after seizure — and Harrison Butker steps up

When Kansas City Chiefs defensive end BJ Thompson went into cardiac arrest after a seizure during a special teams meeting Thursday, kicker Harrison Butker stepped up.

Rick Burkholder, Chiefs vice president of sports medicine and performance, said Butker left the meeting to alert the team's medical personnel of what was happening to Thompson, ESPN reported, adding that athletic trainers and a team doctor initially treated him until fire department personnel arrived.

'He loves all of us. We’re a family. This is so much deeper than just football. We root for each other — and in a moment like that, you just have to call yourself to action. Harrison did that.'

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Thompson was in cardiac arrest for a minute to a minute and a half, Burkholder said, before he was transported to a local hospital. He said Thompson was sedated Thursday and through the night and was on a ventilator overnight to help with breathing.

Thompson regained consciousness Friday and was removed from the ventilator.

Burkholder in an update said Thompson, 25, was alert, awake, and "coming through quite well [and] headed in the absolute right direction," ESPN added.

"We don't have a diagnosis," Burkholder noted, according to the sports network. "And in medicine, sometimes you don't have that."

The Chiefs held a team meeting before Friday's practice to update players on Thompson's progress, ESPN said, adding that head coach Andy Reid noted that "if it had to happen, no better place than right here where you have the support that knows what to do."

Turns out the team held a meeting just days before Thompson's medical emergency that went over what players and team personnel should do in similar situations, Arrowhead Pride explained.

“The NFL mandates that we do these emergency action plans for every team in the league — home, away, and in the practice facilities,” Burkholder told reporters Friday, the outlet noted. “We are mandated to practice multiple times a year.”

Butker went right to the team's training room to notify trainers Julie Frymyer and David Glover, Arrowhead Pride noted.

“Harrison is that guy,” safety Justin Reid told the outlet. “He loves all of us. We’re a family. This is so much deeper than just football. We root for each other — and in a moment like that, you just have to call yourself to action. Harrison did that.”

Butker, a Catholic, last month came under left-wing fire after giving a graduation speech at Benedictine College, a small Catholic school, during which he dared to say to women, "Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world."

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder in the middle of the band's Las Vegas concert called Butker a "f***ing p***y" over the star kicker's words. A sportswriter said a woman should replace Butker, reporters endlessly quizzed Butker's teammates about him, and on the first day of Pride Month, singer Katy Perry actually posted an edited version of Butker's graduation speech to make it politically correct. But amid all the furor, Butker refused to apologize.

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