The NFL was among six pro sports leagues that participated, along with the unions of the leagues, in a study that today revealed that five professional athletes developed heart problems after testing positive for COVID-19.
The study, published today, identified 789 professional athletes in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS who tested positive for COVID-19. Three of them developed myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, and two developed pericarditis, or inflammation of the tissue surrounding the heart.
The five athletes were not named, but one of them was Tommy Sweeney, who tested positive for COVID-19 in October and was ruled out for the myocarditis season in November. Another one was Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, who missed the entire 2020 MLB season after being diagnosed with myocarditis but is attending spring training this year.
Gary Green, the medical director of MLB, who was one of the authors of the study, told the Washington Post that the fact that only five athletes in the six pro leagues have heart disease suggests that the risk is ‘very, very’ is low ‘.