Heart abnormalities are not a new phenomenon in sports.  I can clearly remember the untimely death of star basketball player Hank Gathers of Loyola Marymount University in 1990 due to a previously unknown heart condition.  I also remember the sad day that Reggie Lewis of the Boston Celtics died from a heart condition in 1993.  Fortunately for Sam Maresh, the University of Minnesota conducted a thorough health screen that detected his heart condition.

Sam Maresh is an extraordinary athlete.  Not only is he a top college football prospect, but at Champlin Park High School he was also a state champion wrestler.  My uncle is a high school wrestling coach, and claims that Maresh was one of the best heavyweight wrestlers he’d ever seen.  He is also known to have walked for great distances on his hands.  That’s quite a feat of strength for a 240 pound man.  It is surmised that his exceptional physical conditioning masked the effects of a heart valve that wasn’t working at 100%.

I’ve often heard doctors mention that if you’re going to have a heart problem, Minnesota is the best place to be.  In fact, Minnesota is one of the few places in the world where people are more likely to die from cancer than from heart related conditions.  That’s not because our oncology care is substandard, but rather because our cardiology treatments are exceptional.  Sam Maresh had his valve replacement surgery performed by cardiovascular surgeon Hartzell Schaff, M.D. at the Mayo Clinic.  Dr. Schaff is one of the premiere cardiovascular surgeons in the world.  Not only was Dr. Schaff able to successfully replace Sam’s valve, but he didn’t even have to cut all of the way through his sternum to do it.  Such success was unheard of until recent years.

The absolute best part of this story is that Sam Maresh should be able to live a normal and healthy life thanks to his physical exam at the University of Minnesota.  If progress continues as expected, Sam may be able to play football again come Spring.  Athletes have successfully returned from heart surgery in recent years.  Teppo Numminen of the Buffalo Sabres returned to the NHL after heart valve repair in 2007, and Ronny Turiaf of the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the NBA less than one year after his heart valve surgery.  Tim Brewster has already stated that Sam Maresh will carry the flag onto the field for the first game at TCF Bank Stadium.  With his attitude, work ethic, gift of athleticism, and top-notch doctors, I predict that we’ll see Sam Maresh wearing maroon and gold in full pads come 2009.  I’m looking forward to his first tackle.