Penn State's Journey Brown Retiring from Football Because of Heart Condition

Penn State running back Journey Brown is retiring from football after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick.

Brown announced the news in a statement on Twitter Wednesday:

Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin told reporters the condition was discovered during COVID-19 testing but is not related to the virus.  

"Although it is not COVID-related we learned about this in early September. ... The entire organization has rallied behind Journey and his family," Franklin said.

Brown has not played during the 2020 season, but no clues were given on his status, aside from it being illness-related. The junior was coming off a strong 2019 campaign, rushing for 890 yards and 12 touchdowns, and he was expected to start at running back for the Nittany Lions. The final game of his career was a 202-yard, two-touchdown breakout performance against Memphis in the Cotton Bowl.

Devyn Ford has started at running back for a disappointing Penn State team, which enters the weekend 0-3 on the season.