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Penn State's Journey Brown retiring from football due to heart condition

• ESPN staff writer
• Joined ESPN in 2011
• Graduated from Central Michigan

Penn State running back Journey Brown is medically retiring from football after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Head coach James Franklin announced Wednesday night that the redshirt junior would no longer be able to play. Brown had been held out of the season, as Penn State announced in October that a medical condition was discovered in the offseason.

According to WebMD, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy "is associated with thickening of the heart muscle ... which leads to stiffening of the walls of the heart and abnormal aortic and mitral heart valve function, both of which may impede normal blood flow out of the heart."

"It was discovered through a routine COVID-19 test, although it is not COVID-related," Franklin said. "We learned about this in early September, and we've been working through this and dealing with this as a team. Journey is one of the most popular and respected players on our team.

"The entire organization has rallied behind Journey and his family."

Brown started 10 games for Penn State last season and led the team with 890 yards and 12 touchdowns. The 5-foot-11, 217-pound back was set to be one of the more important players coming back on offense.

Brown took to social media Wednesday night to express his feelings about the diagnosis.

I didn't even expect to make it this far but it's about Journey, not the destination. #HLM #SIAM pic.twitter.com/nbQrIsjXzY — SUNNY-D☀️🦕 (@JourneyBrown6) November 11, 2020

He wrote about the first time he fell in love with football and how it changed his life and how it became less of a game and more of a lifestyle.

"I finally had the opportunity to showcase what I was born to do and, hopefully, set myself up to achieve my lifelong dream of playing in the NFL," Brown wrote. "Unfortunately, the dream will never be realized as I have been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which will force me to medically retire from the game of football. The pain of not being able to play the game I love anymore hurts and I can't explain how I am feeling right now."

Brown went on to say that he gave everything he had and has no regrets about how his journey is ending.

Penn State has been without Brown this season and lost running back Noah Cain to injury. Devyn Ford is now carrying the workload in the run game, along with quarterback Sean Clifford . The team has 388 total rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Former PSU star Journey Brown ‘writing his comeback story’ after medically retiring from football

• Updated: May. 05, 2023, 5:55 p.m. |
• Published: May. 05, 2023, 3:05 p.m.

Penn State running back Journey Brown is awarded the offensive player of the game after their 53-39 win over Memphis in the Cotton Bowl in AT&T Stadium on Dec. 28, 2019. Brown is now pushing ahead with a career in NASCAR. Joe Hermitt | [email protected]

• Brian Linder | [email protected]

It has been just more than two years since Penn State star running back Journey Brown was forced to medically retire from football due to a heart condition.

And we really haven’t heard much from the Meadville native since.

Turns out he is doing, pretty darned good, and he is still competing, too. He’s just doing it in another sport.

Trackhouse Racing dropped a video on social media Friday detailing Journey’s journey since doctors discovered he had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Nittany Lions fans will enjoy it.

“Journey’s story is awesome. It is a journey within itself,” Erik Nason, Manager of Sports Medicine for AdventHealth, starts the video saying. “Listening to his passion for football and his life, to go through something where he was diagnosed with HCM, and that kind of taken away is kind of hard to grasp.”

Then Brown pops up to explain his diagnosis, comparing it to taking a four-lane highway in New York City and cutting it down to two-lanes … only inside of his heart.

“For me to be exerting myself, and then to get hit by a 327-pound offensive lineman from Ohio State, the two wouldn’t mix together well,” he explained.

And that is when Brown said he was forced to consider life after football.

“What am I doing next?” he said. “I had literally no options. I was kind of scrambling trying to find what I was going to do, where I was going to live, and after that coach (Shaun) Peet called me.”

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And that opened the door for Brown to get into NASCAR racing as a tire changer. NASCAR teams have increasingly sought out former college and NFL players across the past couple years, and it makes sense. Fractions of a second can make a big difference during a pit stop, so having real athletes — guys who are already big, strong and fast — tossing around heavy tires and equipment can add an advantage.

“Journey was an easy choice for us,” Peet, the pit crew coach at Trackhouse Racing said. “When a friend of mine started talking about him and his story, I was intrigued instantly. When I got on the phone with him, you expect a level of disappointment or a level of bitterness for the way life dealt its cards to him, and he’s not.

“The guy is a light.”

Brown said he was initially hesitant.

“He was just like, “Hey man, how you doing, I’m Shaun Peet, I want you to get down here and check out NASCAR,’” Brown said. “And I was just like “Ah, honestly, I’m not a big NASCAR guy or whatever,’ and he said, ‘Neither was I.’

“He said, ‘No promises. We don’t want you to commit to nothing. We want you simply to just come check it out,’” Brown said. “And, I was like, ‘What is the harm in that?’”

Peet said Trackhouse could tell right away that Brown would be a great addition.

Penn State running back Journey Brown goes in for an 18-yard touchdown run as Rutgers linebacker Olakunle Fatukasi gives chase during the third quarter on Nov. 30, 2019. Joe Hermitt | [email protected]

“We get him on the campus the first day and we were sold,” he said. ‘He just brings energy the second he comes through the door.”

And Brown said he was surprised by the diversity of people on staff.

“This is NASCAR, and from that aspect it blew my mind,” he said. “And, I was like, ‘This is dope.’”

Peet said they continue to be impressed by the former Penn State standout.

“Journey brings perspective,” he said. “The way that he not only met adversity but continues to move through it, it’s a pretty strong example for our guys. When all is said and done here, I think his contribution to this race team is going to be far greater than his ability to change tires.”

And for Brown it is bigger than just being a tire changer, too. He said his new career has filled a void.

“I’m essentially a fast mechanic, and I love doing it,” he said. “That void that I lost playing ball is getting slowly but surely filled by doing this, especially just being around the group of guys that I am now. It’s like crazy.

“The chemistry you have to have with your team is just like what I long for,” he added. “And I’m getting that fulfillment in this because I get to use my brain again for a sport.”

Peet said that has been the case for a lot of guys who have shared a similar path to the pit crew.

“When you leave what he left, it doesn’t matter about the money, right?” he said. “It matters about the purpose. We have former NFLers, guys who have won the Super Bowl, who are pitting race cars for us because they want purpose. As an athlete, you grow up with that camaraderie. You are part of a team. You get that adrenaline rush. You get to compete. And when that goes away, that’s a hard day. With Journey, we get to facilitate him writing his comeback story.”

And, as far as Brown is concerned, it is one heckuva comeback story. And Nittany Lion football fans will probably love to hear just how he feels about that now.

“I thought football was my single purpose, but now I have a lot of purposes,” he said. “I miss it, but would I trade it? My life for that now? Nah, I like my life now for sure. I do.”

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‘It’s heartbreaking’: Journey Brown medically retiring from football

Penn State running back Journey Brown announced Wednesday that his diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy will force him to medically retire from football.

“The pain of not being able to play the game I love anymore hurts and I can’t explain how I’m feeling right now,” Brown said in a statement.

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“You never know when you will play your last snap, but I know I left it all out there and have no regrets, other than wishing I could step on the field one final time.”

Penn State coach James Franklin said after practice Wednesday night that the entire organization is behind Brown and his family.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Franklin added. “When it happens you’re in shock and you feel physically sick about it and you’re in shock. You hurt for the kid.”

In October, the school announced he could potentially miss the season due to an undisclosed medical condition discovered in the offseason.

Brown rushed for 890 yards and 12 touchdowns last season — his last appearance was in the Cotton Bowl, where he rushed for two touchdowns and 202 yards. He was one of the top returning running backs in the Big Ten this season.

Penn State RB Journey Brown forced to medically retire

How good was Brown?

Audrey Snyder, Penn State writer: The way Brown finished last season, and not just the Cotton Bowl but really the final five games where he rushed for 100-plus yards in four of five games, had him soaring on NFL Draft boards. He told The Athletic in September he even contemplated turning pro when the Big Ten's season was postponed in August. As the lead back in a once deep backfield — where last season he beat out former 5-star prospect Ricky Slade — Brown showed at the end of last year that he was going to be an NFL running back.

What impact did he have on Penn State?

Snyder: One can't ignore both the on-field and off-field impact the jovial, bubbly, outgoing Brown has. He'd be the player working to keep the other running backs loose when he'd sense they were too uptight. Even now he's been on the sideline at every game home and away encouraging teammates and helping coach up a running back group that's down to third-string back Devyn Ford and two true freshmen behind him. Brown's leadership and performance make this a huge blow for Penn State but keeping him around the team in a coaching-type capacity will help him and the Nittany Lions.

Where does Penn State go from here?

Snyder: The backfield has centered around Ford since the opening drive at Indiana when Noah Cain was lost for the season due to injury. It's up to Brown to make sure Ford, a sophomore, and freshmen Keyvone Lee and Caziah Holmes are picking up the playbook as fast as they possibly can. Brown will continue to be in their ear between series on the sideline like he's been and working with them on the practice field. As the leader in that young room, his voice is necessary.

(Photo: Kevin Jairaj / USA TODAY Sports)

Brown’s full statement:

https://twitter.com/JourneyBrown6/status/1326674980319490052/photo/1

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Former Penn State RB Journey Brown Reinvents Himself on a NASCAR Pit Crew after Heart Condition Ended Football Career

Diagnosed with a heart condition in 2020, journey brown has found a new job away from football with kaulig racing.

Journey Brown, a former running back at Penn State, has a new career path as a member of a NASCAR pit crew.

Brown had to step away from football after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 2020. The genetic heart condition , which leads to abnormally thick heart muscles, is a leading cause of cardiac arrest in young people.

But now, he is trying on a brand new career. Brown moved to North Carolina to join Kaulig Racing, working on the pit crew of Justin Haley's car.

View post on Twitter

After redshirting his freshman year at Penn State, Brown had a big sophomore season for the Nittany Lions in 2019, racking up 129 carries for 890 yards and 13 touchdowns, including one receiving touchdown. He had a star turn in the Cotton Bowl that season, rushing for 202 yards and two touchdowns in Penn State's 53-39 win over Memphis.

But at the beginning of the 2020 season, Brown's heart condition was discovered during COVID-19 testing. Head coach James Franklin said it was unrelated to the virus. Doctors told him that he had to stop playing football to help manage the disease.

In an interview with Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass, Brown said that he initially struggled to believe the diagnosis, but eventually came to terms with it. "I just started being more realistic with myself," he said.

Brown is still working on his degree, and said that he doesn't miss a Penn State game. He added that he still stays in the loop with the team and with running back coach Ja'Juan Seider.

When asked if part of him wanted to get away from football and from Penn State, Brown said he was. "Well, that's why I'm down here," he said.

Brown compared it to a breakup. "It's like if you love a girl a long time, and then you break up, and you've gotta see her every day after that," he said.

But, he added, he still goes to practices and games sometimes, and he still loves football. "I came to peace with it," Brown said.

Penn State's Journey Brown announces he's medically retiring after heart condition is diagnosed

Penn State head coach James Franklin struggled to hold his emotions when talking to reporters after practice.

The past six months have been one of the most difficult times imaginable for his program, from losing star players to navigating COVID-19 protocols, to being separated from his wife and daughters.

To, of course, losing three times to start this delayed season.

On Wednesday, it only got tougher as he announced that running back Journey Brown would never play football again.

Separately, Brown detailed on social media that he is suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick, making it more difficult for blood to be pumped through the body.

Though Brown had sat out these opening games of 2020, the severity of his previously unrevealed condition seemed uncertain. Franklin had not even ruled him out of playing again this season until Wednesday.

"It’s heartbreaking ... and when we found out about it you’re in shock. You feel physically sick about it and you’re just in shock. You hurt for the kid," Franklin said. "Obviously, it's magnified because of all the conversations that were going on about Journey and what he was going to be able to do this season."

And yet he's "handled it better than anyone I've ever been around."

Brown not only won the starting tailback job midway through last season as a sophomore, but he increasingly dominated opponents down the stretch, culminating in a 200-yard rushing day in the Cotton Bowl victory against Memphis.

He was poised to be the top running back in the Big Ten this season and beyond. His position coach, JaJuan Seider, had talked this past spring about how he was only truly beginning to mesh his elite track and field speed with his football skills.

Then, when the season finally did begin, Brown could only watch as his backup, Noah Cain, was injured on the first drive of the season's first game.

"He's going to be unbelievably successful, and I know our team will support him and rally around him," Franklin said of Brown. "I know how much they rally around situations like this and he’s going to need it. It's not just for the short term but it’s long term.

"Journey Brown is like a son to me, he really is."

Moving on to Nebraska

The football finality of Brown's diagnosis is just the latest off-field distraction the Lions have been forced to overcome since the season began again with preseason camp in September.

Because of COVID-19 concerns, they have split up each day for practice, using three locker rooms. 

They finally held their first in-person, team meeting on Tuesday — as they social distanced in the cavernous Holuba Hall.

Previous large meetings were done via video conferencing.

"I felt connected to the team like I haven't felt in a while," Franklin said. "I think they felt better and I know I felt better getting up in front of them, face-to-face."

He said the best practice of the season followed.

He also reiterated how often he does count the blessings for his family and his team, despite their uncertain path, on and off the field.

He mentioned an emotional celebration of sorts when offensive lineman Juice Scruggs finally got back into a game this season — his first since being involved in a serious car accident last year.

For now, they will keep preparing for a road trip to Nebraska, an unexpected battle of winless teams.

"We have a chance to experience some joy on Saturday, and that’s where all of our focus is," Franklin said.

Ex-Penn State RB Brown embarks on NASCAR pit crew career

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Journey Brown never envisioned a future without football.

He certainly never envisioned one in racing.

The last time he walked off the field after a game, Brown had run for 202 yards and two touchdowns, leading Penn State to a 2019 Cotton Bowl victory over Memphis. He had every reason to believe that he would one day be back in AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, leading an NFL team to another victory.

“The only NASCAR I knew was ‘Talladega Nights,’” Brown said of the slapstick film starring Will Ferrell, “and my next-door neighbor had a Dale Earnhardt Jr. flag.”

Brown knows a whole lot more these days. On Saturday, he walked through the infield gate at Kansas Speedway and joined his new teammates from Trackhouse Racing, where he’s learning the ropes as a pit crew member.

The winding road to reach this point was long and unexpected, beginning not long after that December game in Texas.

Brown was undergoing a routine COVID-19 test during the height of the pandemic. Brown joked with the doctor that he had a good heart, one capable of pumping enough blood through his body to power those long TD runs, when the doctor turned to him with a grim-faced expression. The doctor told Brown that something was amiss — there was something concerning with his scans — and he’d need additional testing.

Soon afterward, Penn State coach James Franklin called him into his office and delivered the news: Brown had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening and stiffening of the heart wall, and it would be too dangerous to continue playing football.

All those pictures of what the future might hold evaporated that day in the office.

“I was always confident in my abilities in football,” Brown told The Associated Press during a wide-ranging interview. “For me, the confidence I had in myself, I know I would have been in the league, and I would have played for as long as I chose.

“Then,” Brown said,” that wasn’t an option anymore. And I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

He helped out with the Nittany Lions for a bit. He had a job lined up to train budding players in California that fell through, in part because of how expensive it is to live there and in part because of the daughter he had back in Pennsylvania.

When Brown got a call about trying out as a tire changer for Trackhouse Racing, he basically blew it off. But a few weeks later, pit coach Shaun Peet called again and convinced Brown to travel to Charlotte and give the operation a look.

Brown thought he’d find a bunch of guys turning wrenches in a greasy garage. What he found was a sophisticated research and engineering facility, immaculately clean shop space and a finely tuned team that created an atmosphere not much different from the one in college football.

Peet said he made no promises. But it didn’t take long for Brown’s athleticism to show. He was faster than the average crew member, quickly getting into position to change a tire. He was stronger than many too, making it easy to fling a 40-pound wheel back to the pit wall. And his dexterity made changing the lugnuts seem natural.

Brown wound up spending a week in North Carolina, then headed home to ponder his future. He spoke with family and friends, including Carolina Panthers defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos, one of his old teammates at Penn State.

“I was like, ‘I think I want to give this NASCAR thing a try,’” Brown said.

He wound up moving to North Carolina late last year and spent most of this year learning the nuances of life as a pit-crew member. Brown may eventually be part of the regular rotation for Trackhouse Racing, which fields cars for Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain in NASCAR’s top series.

In the meantime, Brown has bought a house and settled down. He has become an ambassador for AdventHealth, one of the team’s sponsors, and spends spare time speaking at schools about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.

It’s not the future he envisioned. But it’s one he’s happy to embrace.

“I know what my life would have been in the NFL. The life I’m living now, it’s the what-if — like, what if I didn’t play football? What would I be doing?” Brown said. “Right now, I wake up every day curious, because I’m living a life I never knew I would. I’ll never forget I was a ballplayer. I love football to this day. But I love this life I never thought I’d be living.”

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A heart condition forces Penn State running back Journey Brown out of football for good

Brown, the Nittany Lions’ leading rusher last season following his 202-yard performance in the Cotton Bowl, was diagnosed in early September. Second opinions confirmed that he could not play again.

Penn State’s Journey Brown, a redshirt junior whose sensational late-season performance in 2019 vaulted him to consideration for national awards in the 2020 preseason, must retire from football because of a heart condition, head coach James Franklin announced Wednesday night.

In a statement he released on his Twitter account, Brown identified his ailment as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, where abnormal genes in the heart muscle cause the walls of the heart chamber to become thicker than normal, reducing the amount of blood taken in and pumped out to the body with each heartbeat.

Franklin said Brown was first diagnosed with the condition in early September. He said internal testing and second opinions confirmed what doctors at Penn State had thought all along.

“Journey Brown will no longer be able to play football,” he said. “It was discovered through a routine COVID-19 test, although it is not COVID-related. We’ve been working through this and dealing with this as a team. Journey’s one of the most popular and respected players on our team. The entire organization has rallied behind Journey and his family. We need Nittany Nation to do the same, as I know we will.

“Journey’s handled this unbelievably well and I know he’ll be extremely successful in whatever he decides to do. He’s been serving as an assistant coach, running backs coach. He’s been very involved. He’s been traveling to all the games and all those types of things.”

Brown led the Nittany Lions in rushing last year with 890 yards, a 6.9-yard average, and 12 touchdowns. He rolled up 593 yards on the ground in his last five games, including a program bowl-record 202-yard performance in the team’s Cotton Bowl win over Memphis.

Brown’s late burst was remembered in the preseason. The 5-foot-11, 217-pound Brown was named to the watch lists for the Maxwell Award, the Paul Hornung Award, and the Doak Walker Award, and he was named preseason All-Big Ten by two publications.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Franklin said. “When we found out about it, you’re in shock. You feel physically sick about it. So you hurt for the kid. Obviously, it’s magnified because of all the conversations that were going on nationally about Journey and what he was going to be able to do this season. But I’ll tell you, the kid has been phenomenal. He’s handled it better than, I think, anybody I’ve ever been around.”

Brown, who ran a time of 10.43 seconds in 2017 for Meadville High School to break the PIAA Class AA record held by former Penn Wood star and Olympian Leroy Burrell in the 100 meters, sat out his first season at Penn State and carried the ball only eight times as a redshirt freshman before blossoming last year.

“After all the waiting and watching, I finally had the opportunity to showcase what I was born to do, and hopefully set myself up to achieve my lifelong dream of playing in the NFL,” Brown said in his Twitter statement. "Unfortunately, the dream will never be realized.

“The pain of not being able to play the game I love any more hurts and I can’t explain how I am feeling right now. However, I can walk away from the game knowing I truly gave my all at every practice, on every down and in the locker room every day. You never know when you will play your last snap, but I know I left it all out there and have no regrets.”

Franklin often has expressed his admiration for how Brown handled adversity in his life. Since enrolling at Penn State in 2017, Brown has lost his grandmother, two aunts, an uncle, two cousins, and a close friend. When Brown was first diagnosed with his heart condition, Franklin felt he would “stay positive and focus on the blessing.”

On Wednesday, Franklin’s voice cracked when he called Brown “a special kid.” He expressed confidence about his future.

“He’s going to be very successful,” Franklin said. “I don’t know if he wants to stay in football or whatever he decides to do, but he’s going to be unbelievably successful. I know our team is going to continue to support him and rally around him.”

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Penn state rb journey brown retires from football due to heart condition, share this article.

I didn’t even expect to make it this far but it’s about Journey, not the destination. #HLM #SIAM pic.twitter.com/nbQrIsjXzY — SUNNY-D☀️🦕 (@JourneyBrown6) November 11, 2020

One of the top running backs in all of college football is having to walk away from the game due to medical reasons.

Penn State’s Journey Brown announced Wednesday via Twitter that he has been diagnosed with a heart condition, which will force him to retire from football.

Widely regarded as one of the top prospects at his position in the 2021 NFL draft class, Brown enjoyed a breakout season in 2019, topping 1,000 yards of total offense and scoring 13 touchdowns, averaging 6.9 yards per carry.

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Penn State star RB Journey Brown forced to retire from football due to heart condition

Brown's condition was discovered through covid-19 testing, though it's unrelated to the virus.

Penn State running back Journey Brown announced Wednesday that his playing career is over after he was diagnosed with a heart condition that will force him to "medically retire from the game of football." Brown, a redshirt junior, had not played for the Nittany Lions yet this season to due the issue, which he revealed to be hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Penn State coach James Franklin said the condition was discovered in September through a routine COVID-19 test but was not related to the coronavirus.

A former three-star prospect, Brown did not play during his redshirt season in 2017 and saw limited action in 2018 before emerging as the team's leading rusher last season with 890 yards and 12 touchdowns on 6.9 yards per carry.

"I can still remember the first time I truly fell in love with the game I've been playing since 4th grade," Brown wrote in his announcement. "Back then it was a game I played for fun, but when I was a sophomore in high school, my life changed, and I fell in love with football, all I could think of was when can I play, how can I get better, what can I do to be a better teammate, and at that moment, football became less of a game for me and more of a lifestyle. That lifestyle put me in position to be blessed to have a chance to play football at Penn State. My first year here was rough at times, but when you love the game of football as much as I do, you put your head down and work through scout team, lion's den and the waiting and watching. I finally had the opportunity to showcase what I was born to do and, hopefully, set myself up to achieve my life-long dream of playing in the NFL. Unfortunately, the dream will never be realized."

Although Brown's playing career is over, coaching could be in his future. Franklin said Wednesday that Brown has been serving as an assistant running backs coach while traveling with the Nittany Lions this season.

"Journey is one of the most popular and respected players on our team," Franklin said. "The entire organization is rallying behind Journey and his family. We need Nittany Nation to do the same as I know we will. Journey has handled this unbelievably well, and I know he'll be extremely successful in whatever he decides to do.

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Penn State football player Journey Brown retires from game due to heart condition

A promising football career has come to a heartbreaking end for Penn State running back Journey Brown.

Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin announced Wednesday night that Brown, 21, would no longer be able to play football due to a heart condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy . Brown followed with an emotional post on Twitter about his career coming to an end.

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"It’s heartbreaking ... and when we found out about it you’re in shock. You feel physically sick about it and you’re just in shock. You hurt for the kid," Franklin told reporters after practice, according to the York Daily Record . "Obviously, it's magnified because of all the conversations that were going on about Journey and what he was going to be able to do this season."

"I didn’t even expect to make it this far but it’s about Journey, not the destination," Brown tweeted alongside a graphic of his statement.

I didn’t even expect to make it this far but it’s about Journey, not the destination. #HLM #SIAM pic.twitter.com/nbQrIsjXzY — SUNNY-D☀️🦕 (@JourneyBrown6) November 11, 2020

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a condition usually caused by abnormal genes in the heart muscle that cause the walls of the heart chamber to become thicker than normal, which can reduce the amount of blood pumped throughout the body, according to the American Heart Association. It's a chronic disease that can worsen over time.

"The pain of not being able to play the game I love anymore hurts and I can’t explain how I am feeling right now," Brown said in his statement. "However, I can walk away from the game knowing I truly gave my all at every practice, on every down and in the locker room every day. You never know when you will play your last snap, but I know I left it all out there and have no regrets, other than wishing I could step on the field one final time."

Brown's heart condition was discovered during a routine COVID-19 test in early September but is not related to COVID-19, according to Franklin.

The 5-foot-11, 217-pound redshirt junior was poised to be one of Penn State's top players this year as he built toward a future in the NFL. He led the team with 890 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns last season, but did not play in the team's 0-3 start to this season with what was described as an undisclosed medical condition.

"Journey's a great guy and he's a leader of this team," Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth told reporters ahead of the season opener, according to 247 Sports . "Everyone looks up to him, including myself. Everything he's been through, everything he's stood for and everything he's worked so hard for throughout his time here — you know, I look up to him as an individual."

What turned out to be Brown's final game was one to remember, as the Pennsylvania native was named the offensive MVP in Penn State's win over Memphis in the Cotton Bowl Classic last year. He rushed for 202 yards and two touchdowns.

"I finally had the opportunity to showcase what I was born to do and, hopefully, set myself up to achieve my lifelong dream of playing in the NFL," Brown wrote. "Unfortunately, the dream will never be realized as I have been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which will force me to medically retire from the game of football."

Brown shared how he has been playing the game since fourth grade and really came to love it as a sophomore in high school.

"I won’t miss the game of football because it will always be a part of me," he wrote.

Scott Stump is a trending reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY (which you should subscribe to here! ) that brings the day's news, health tips, parenting stories, recipes and a daily delight right to your inbox. He has been a regular contributor for TODAY.com since 2011, producing features and news for pop culture, parents, politics, health, style, food and pretty much everything else. 

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Penn state star rb journey brown retires from football due to heart disease, share this article.

The absence due to illness of starting Penn State running back Journey Brown from the 2020 team created questions. Brown answered them Wednesday by saying he has to retire from football due to being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Brown rushed for 890 yards, averaging almost seven yards per carry in 2019. He scored 12 rushing TDs for the Nittany Lions.

In the Cotton Bowl,  Brown set a Penn State bowl record with 202 yards in the Cotton Bowl vs. Memphis (12/28/19), topping Saquon Barkley’s 194 yards in the 2017 Rose Bowl.

He likely would have followed Barkley and Miles Sanders on the chain of  Penn State running backs to continue their careers in the NFL. Some early scouting reports felt Brown would be one of the first running backs off the board in the 2021 NFL Draft.

An explanation of the disease:

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick (hypertrophied). The thickened heart muscle can make it harder for the heart to pump blood. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy often goes undiagnosed because many people with the disease have few, if any, symptoms and can lead normal lives with no significant problems. However, in a small number of people with  HCM , the thickened heart muscle can cause shortness of breath, chest pain or problems in the heart’s electrical system, resulting in life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias) or sudden death.

I didn’t even expect to make it this far but it’s about Journey, not the destination. #HLM #SIAM pic.twitter.com/nbQrIsjXzY — SUNNY-D☀️🦕 (@JourneyBrown6) November 11, 2020

“His leadership on our team is significant,” head coach James Franklin said last month. “His leadership on our team is needed. His energy, he’s been phenomenal…We’re not losing Journey the man. Journey the man is going to be with us and will always be. We’re fortunate because that’s the thing that’s most important to me – who he is and what he represents for our program.

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Former Penn State Star Is Now a NASCAR Pit Crew Member

It's been nearly three years since former Penn State Football running back Journey Brown had to retire from football due to a heart condition. 

It's been nearly three years since former Penn State football running back Journey Brown had to retire from football due to a heart condition.

Brown burst onto the scene for the Nittany Lions toward the middle the 2019 season, as he earned the starting role after separating himself from a group of three other running backs. On just 129 carries that season, Brown rushed for 890 yards and 12 touchdowns and won Offensive MVP of the 2019 Cotton Bowl.

Heading into the 2020 season, Brown was being hyped up as the next great Penn State running back after his two predecessors, Saquon Barkley and Miles Sanders. Unfortunately, just days before the COVID-19-abbreviated 2020 Big Ten college football season was set to begin, Brown announced he had to retire due to a medical condition involving his heart.

Brown stuck around the Penn State team as a student-coach until his graduation. But the man who once ran for 722 yards and 10 touchdowns in a high school game still had the itch to compete.

His new calling would be a rather unexpected one, though.

NBC Sports highlighted Brown on Sunday during its NASCAR coverage after a recent featured story on Brown from Dustin Long of NBC Sports .

Journey Brown was a @PennStateFball star before being sidelined. He found a new calling in @NASCAR as a pit crew member with @TeamTrackhouse and @KauligRacing . pic.twitter.com/rnN3qZsV4W — NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 3, 2023

In 2022, the Trackhouse Racing team reached out to Brown about trying to be a tire changer on a pit crew. After trying it out, Brown "fell in love with it," according to NBC Sports.

RELATED: The Penn State Whiteout Game is One of College Football's Best Traditions

After spending a year practicing his craft with the help of the Trackhouse and Kaulig racing teams, Brown was finally able to make his NASCAR debut two weeks ago at Daytona. The Kaulig racing team added a third car — driven by Chandler Smith — to the race, meaning an additional pit crew was also needed. Brown was a tire changer on that crew, according to Long.

Speed and strength are two necessary traits of a NASCAR pit crew member, and those are the two elements that made Brown such a special running back at Penn State. It may not be the NFL, but Brown still found a way to put his special skills to use.

MORE:  Josh Bush Goes From Super Bowl Champion to NASCAR Pit Crew Member

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Judge rules Kentucky distillery influenced unionization vote with free bottles of bourbon

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - A judge has found Woodford Reserve Distillery’s parent company, Brown-Forman, committed serious violations of labor laws.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the National Labor Relations Board judge found the Versailles distillery unfairly influenced a 2022 unionization vote by announcing pay increases and handing out bottles of premium bourbon.

Brown-Forman and Woodford Reserve Distillery spokeswoman Elizabeth Conway says they are reviewing the judge’s decision and determining the next steps based on the ruling.

Copyright 2024 WKYT. All rights reserved.

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Megan Thee Stallion bares all for Women’s Health

“I am becoming a new person physically and mentally,” Megan Thee Stallion says, explaining the positive impact of fitness on her mental health.

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While showing off her “body–ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody-ody” on the cover of Women’s Health’s 2024 Body Issue , Megan Thee Stallion shared how pouring into her physical health helped improve her mental health — and vice versa. 

After her highly publicized trial against Tory Lanez, who was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2022 for shooting and injuring her during an altercation two years prior, Megan explained how public scrutiny and a barrage of opinions and insults impacted her mental health. 

“A lot of people didn’t treat me like I was human for a long time,” she told Women’s Health . “I feel like everybody was always used to me being the fun and happy party girl. I watched people build me up, tear me down, and be confused about their expectations of me. As a Black woman, as a darker Black woman, I also feel like people expect me to take the punches, take the beating, take the lashings, and handle it with grace. But I’m human.”

Falling into a depression , the “Savage” rapper recalls days when she did not get out of bed or even see the sun. While she thanks her therapist for helping her reconnect with her sense of self, Megan also says fitness played a big role in her healing process. 

“I used working out to escape, and get happy,” she shared. “Working on myself made me get into working out because I needed to focus my energy somewhere else.” 

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With partnerships with brands like Nike and Planet Fitness , the “Houston Hottie” has openly shared the effort she now puts into maintaining her physical health, which has since made her the embodiment of many women’s “fitness goals.” Although the star regularly works out four to five times a week, exploring different fitness practices like Pilates, strength training, and uphill runs on the beach, like many of us, she sometimes still struggles to find the motivation. 

“Getting out of bed to work out in the morning is a struggle,” she admitted. “I have to get mentally prepared. I’m like, ‘I can stay here for another hour, or I can get up and go work out and be a bad b—. If I want to be a stallion and not a pony, I got to get up and put in the work.’”

Now in a space where she wants her physical appearance to match how strong she feels mentally, Megan’s morning routine consists of workouts and self-care, which includes journaling, meditation, prayer, music, skin care and time with her dogs. 

“[I] let the start of the day be about me; then, I can give my energy to everybody else,” she said. “I feel I am becoming a new person physically and mentally…I’m proud to still be here. I didn’t quit. I want to see myself grow and be better than I am right now. And I will. I know I will.”

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O.J. Simpson, football star turned celebrity murder defendant, dead at 76

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Service Learning Benefits All: Indianapolis Journey

Mallory Meyer Apr 12, 2024

Community immersion projects during orientation are the perfect place to start considering service learning, but why stop there?

Indiana University School of Medicine has Indianapolis campus representatives and events chairs for the Service Learning Coalition who plan opportunities for medical students to serve the community.

Neal Mahajan, a second-year medical student who serves as SLC events co-chair with Kylee Darden, reaches out to organizations for potential partnerships. “Participating in service learning augments my educational experience by having a better understanding of the causes of public health issues that disproportionately affect disadvantaged groups,” he said. “The service-learning project at Flanner Farms last spring was a great example of how food deserts caused by underinvestment, discrimination, and community destruction concretely impact the health of our future patients.”

Habitat for Humanity ReStore

For Fall Service Learning Day, Mahajan led the Habitat for Humanity ReStore project, while Darden worked with NeighborLink to help clean up and repair a home. The students working with ReStore assisted in assembling donated furniture for the retail store. Additionally, they helped reorganize the showroom by taking out old pieces and bringing in new ones.

Student volunteers learned from the workers about Habitat’s initiative to provide furniture and appliances for low-income families in the area. Despite being a small team of six people, the students significantly improved the selection and shopping experience at the ReStore.

NeighborLink

Since 2013, NeighborLink — which is funded through grants, partnerships, and donations — has received thousands of home repair requests from older adults and individuals with disabilities who own a home. It has completed 4,803 projects at no cost to the homeowner.

The organization allows solo or group volunteering. You can also elect to participate in its Handy Volunteer Program , which helps people learn valuable skills, such as basic hand tool use and safety, simple electrical, basic plumbing, foundational carpentry, and problem-solving confidence. It allows participants to complete home repair projects as often as they wish.

Interested in upcoming service learning opportunities? Look for messages in the campus GroupMe and the weekly bulletin to get involved. The Service Learning Coalitio n and other Student Interest Groups also frequently advertise chances to give back.

Mallory Meyer

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Meet O.J. Simpson's kids, including 2 with Nicole Brown

• O.J. Simpson died on April 10, according to a statement from his family.
• He was found not guilty of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, in a highly publicized 1995 trial.
• He had two children with Brown and three with his first wife, Marguerite Whitley.

O.J. Simpson 's family confirmed on Thursday that the former football player had died on April 10 after being diagnosed with cancer. He was 76 years old.

While Simpson never directly confirmed his diagnosis, he did allude to it in February, sharing a video to X where he told his followers: "My health is good, obviously I'm dealing with some issues."

Simpson, who was married twice, fathered five children.

Simpson married Marguerite Whitley in 1967 when they were both teenagers, and they had three children together. In 1977, the football player started dating Nicole Brown , and he divorced Whitley in 1979.

He and Brown got married in 1985, and they were together for seven years. They had two children before she filed for divorce in 1992.

In 1995, Simpson was acquitted of the 1994 murder of Brown and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

Meet Simpson's five kids.

Arnelle Simpson

Arnelle Simpson is the ex-football star's first daughter with Marguerite L. Whitley. She was born in December 1968, saying during her father's murder trial that it was "the same day my dad won the Heisman trophy," The Washington Post reported at the time.

Arnelle told the jury during the trial that her father was "very upset, emotional, confused" when she spoke to him after police told him about the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, per the Post. At the time of the June 1994 murders, Arnelle was living in a guest house on Simpson's property.

Arnelle also spoke during her father's parole hearing after he spent nine years in prison in relation to a 2007 robbery. During her statement, she called him her "best friend" and "rock," ABC News reported.

"We just want him to come home," Arnelle said at the time. "This has been really, truly hard… I know that he is remorseful."

Jason Simpson

Jason is Simpson and Whitley's first son. He was 24 at the time of the 1984 killings , born in 1970.

As NBC News reported, Jason tried to speak with his father when Simpson arrived at his Brentwood home after his famous televised 1994 car chase. Police, however, stopped Jason before he could reach Simpson and detained him. Jason did not face any charges.

The Los Angeles Times reported in 2016 that Jason was living a quiet life out of the public eye and working as a chef at an Atlanta restaurant called St. Cecilia. A profile that appears to belong to Jason on the Charleston Wine + Food Festival website indicates that he has more recently worked as the executive chef at Golden Eagle and Muchacho , two sister restaurants in the Atlanta area.

Aaren Simpson

Simpson and his first wife had one more daughter, Aaren, who was born in 1977. However, Aaren died at 23 months old after drowning in a swimming pool.

Sydney Brooke Simpson

Sydney Brooke Simpson was born in 1985 and was 8 years old when her mother was murdered in 1994. After Brown's death and amid her father's trial, she was looked after by her maternal grandparents, Louis Brown and Juditha Brown.

According to The Los Angeles Times , she studied at Boston University where she graduated with a degree in Sociology. She later moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, near her brother Jason.

Simpson seemingly has no presence on social media and appears to keep her life private.

Justin Ryan Simpson

Simpson's youngest child Justin was born in 1988 and was 5 years old at the time of his mother's murder. Along with his sister, Justin was also looked after by his grandparents during his father's trial and kept away from the media growing up.

When "The People v. O.J. Simpson," a TV series that dramatized the case, was airing on FX in 2016 and catapulted the Simpson family back into the spotlight, the Tampa Bay Times spoke to Justin about his life at the time. He told them that he was working in real estate and explained why he lives in Florida.

"It's a great place to live, why not St. Pete? It's great here," he said.

A Zillow profile that appears to belong to Justin reads: "Justin has seen a diverse spectrum of markets from Los Angeles to Chicago, Miami and Atlanta. Having spent years in multi-family renovation and income properties, Justin has turned his focus to helping others succeed as he has."

It continued: "Having a family immersed in hospitality, Justin sets himself apart by dominating customer service and his communication/negotiation skills give his clients the competitive edge.''

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