Browns: The heart condition of Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah isn’t a concern
By Chad Porto
Browns rookie Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah has a heart issue.
Admittedly, there is no such thing as a minor heart issue. There are, however, very manageable ones and heck, even many issues that are correctable. The heart after all isn’t an organ. It’s a muscle. Muscles can be fixed. So when word leaked that new Browns rookie Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had a heart issue, many in the blogosphere freaked out, except, there’s nothing to freak out about.
If there was a serious problem with Owusu-Koramoah, he wouldn’t have been cleared. He would’ve had to be pulled from the draft, he would’ve been declared medically unable to compete and that’d be that. Except, he was cleared, so whatever issue he has may correctable or already corrected.
That or it’s not an issue that can’t be managed. To throw an athlete out because there’s an issue is inhumane. If he got a clean bill of health, which Andrew Berry has said Owusu-Koramoah has gotten, then what’s the issue? He’ll have no limitations and no expectation that his alignment will become an issue beyond what it is.
This is more than likely something he’s been playing with for months if not years, and no one had a problem with his play a week ago. So why now? Because people don’t understand things like “heart condition” and freak out.
His issue may not even be manifesting any symptoms. Heck, it could be as simple as high blood pressure or as serious as a hole in his heart. We don’t know, so why bother freaking out?
Giving someone a chance who had a health issue isn’t a mistake. More than likely nothing will happen to him. NFL insurance isn’t easy to get, and every player has to be properly insured. If there was even a chance that Owusu-Koramoah couldn’t compete without suffering a serious cardiac event, he wouldn’t be cleared.
If he’s cleared, he’s fine.