Former Detroit Lions CEO Matt Millen recovers from heart transplant surgery
PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 20: Matt Millen, an ESPN analyst, on field before the game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Brigham Young Cougars at LaVell Edwards Stadium on September 20, 2014 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images )
CHICAGO (AP) - Matt Millen will be back in a broadcast booth when the coming college football season begins, new heart and all.
The former Penn State star who played on four-time Super Bowl championship teams says heart transplant surgery hasn't done much to disrupt his life or appetite to return to the game.
Millen was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare disease in which abnormal protein buildup can cause organ failure. He waited about three months to get the call and received his new heart during a procedure last December.
Millen was a popular NFL analyst before serving as president of the Detroit Lions from 2001 to 2008. He and play-by-play man Kevin Kugler will team for an Aug. 31 Big Ten network broadcast to begin the new season.