Former Lions GM Matt Millen Undergoes Successful Heart Transplant Surgery

Former Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen underwent successful heart transplant surgery Monday.

“Doctors said the heart was a perfect match and he is doing well. The surgery went smoothly," Millen's wife, Pat, told Peter King of NBC Sports.

Millen, who suffered amyloidosis, had been in the hospital since October awaiting a transplant. He took a leave of absence from his job as a broadcaster for the Big Ten Network upon his diagnosis.

"We're in the fourth quarter of a big football game," Millen told King in May. "We're down 13. Playing defense. It's getting late...we need a stop. We need a big stop."

Millen served as the Lions' CEO and general manager from 2001-2008. His tenure ended during a 2008 season Detroit finished 0-16. 

Since his exit from Detroit, Millen has worked as a broadcaster for ESPN and the Big Ten Network, among others.

"This doesn't bother me too much," Millen added to King in the May interview. "I believe that in life you're supposed to take the bad with the good. You take what you get. This is our life. This is what we get. And so it was the same thing when I was playing. We were fortunate to win Super Bowls. There are guys who go through their whole career, great players, who don't win one. I'm in Oakland, L.A., San Fran, Washington. We won one everywhere. You just can't figure those things sometimes. So you just get what you get. I'm okay with that."