Coach Dan Reeves on his Heart Bypass Surgery

IT IS LATE IN THE 1998 NFL SEASON, AND FOR THE ATLANTA FALCONS AND THEIR HEAD COACH DAN REEVES, A CRUCIAL MATCHUP AGAINST THE SAINTS IN NEW ORLEANS

I remember the national anthem and your heart rate, you know, gets up, you get excited about the game, here comes the kickoff...I'd get this burning sensation in my throat.

AS SOMEONE WITH A HISTORY OF HEART DISEASE, COACH REEVES KNEW THAT COULD BE A WARNING SIGN.

The doctor told me, everybody that has a problem with their heart, they'll either have tightness in their chest, numbness in their arm. Said yours is going to be that burning sensation in your throat.

THE FALCONS WOULD GO ON TO WIN THAT GAME AND MOVE ONE STEP CLOSER TO A DIVISION TITLE.

KEITH: After the game Dan, he didn't have that look he normally has, you can tell he was fighting through something.

DAN: So I go back in the training room and our team doctor was there.
I told him the story of what happened, about the burning sensation in the throat. I said I only got a couple weeks left in the season, you think it would be alright to wait till the end of the season. And he looked at me and said Dan that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

THE NEXT MORNING REEVES WAS BACK IN ATLANTA GETTING CHECKED OUT AT A LOCAL HOSPITAL

You know I start thinking well it won't be bad I'll be back on the field, Tuesday or Wednesday.
They got the monitor there and the (delete two) doctors are looking at my stuff and I'm laying on the table and they start talking.

DR. BROWN: He had several blockages in all of the main arteries of the heart.

Oh he's got like 95% block in this artery, he's got another 95% block here,

We had the heart surgeons there and myself and we kind of did a consensus consultation...as to which would be better for him and decided that he would be better served with a bypass surgery.

DAN: Well man I almost came off the table, 'cause that was the last thing I thought of - bypass surgery, you got to be kidding me. I'm not ready for this. We need to go home and think about this

And Dr Brown said this is too serious for you to leave this hospital.

WITHIN 3 HOURS, REEVES WAS UNDERGOING QUADRUPLE BYPASS SURGERY. THREE WEEKS LATER HE WAS BACK ON THE FALCONS PRACTICE FIELD.

KEITH: The way we saw him fight through his heart complications. That was just energy for us to see that. That just gave us more drive and determination.

THE FALCONS, WITH THEIR COACH AT THE HELM, WOULD REACH THE SUPER BOWL AND THOUGH THEY WOULD NOT WIN, IT WOULD BE A PERSONAL VICTORY FOR DAN REEVES.

Having goals and wanting to get back on the field, that was a blessing.
Because I wanted to do whatever I could to get back.

SINCE THEN, DAN REEVES HAS PAID CLOSER ATTENTION TO HIS LIFESTYLE, ESPECIALLY HIS DIET

When you start coachingyou are constantly on the go, you eat anything you can get your hands on. That's not conducive to any kind of diet.

AND DESPITE KNEE PROBLEMS FROM HIS FOOTBALL PLAYING DAYS, HE KEEPS UP WITH HIS DAILY WALKS AND SPEAKS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER HEART PATIENTS

You gotta pay attention to your body it will tell you some things, but you gotta listen to it and you can't be in denial like I was, oh I'm imagining things. If it's there, get it checked out.

YEARS AFTER HIS BYPASS SURGERY, COACH REEVES SAYS HE FEELS BETTER THAN EVER

Bypass surgery is definitely not close to the end of your life. It's a new lease on life

This entry last modified on: December 12, 2011 10:23 AM