Greg Olsen reveals Aaron Rodgers' touching gesture towards son who survived heart transplant
Former Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks tight end Greg Olsen works with the Fox crew on NFL Sundays. He has a son called T.J. who was born with a rare congenital heart disease. His son had three open heart surgeries in three years prior to receiving a transplant.
The nine-year-old is a big fan of Aaron Rodgers. So when Olsen was headed to the Green Bay Packers game, T.J. asked if there was any way he could meet the Packers star. T.J. got his wish. Olsen described the touching gesture to Rich Eisen on, saying fellow Fox crewmate Erin Andrews knew the quarterback and reached out to him. Here's how he put it on the Rich Eisen Show:
"Long story short, he came out of the tunnel before pregame warmups and looked for us and found us right by the tunnel came over he was amazing. You know, took pictures with them ended up throwing, you know, having a touch with them at during warm ups."
Olsen was emotional about the gesture:
"It was just an unbelievable moment. T.J., for those who don't know, had an open heart transplant last summer. So he's finally now being able to go back on the road and he can travel and start doing some of these things."
He described how much it meant to his son:
"So one of his wishes was to go to Lambeau and meet Aaron Rodgers. And we're fortunate that Aaron was kind enough to take some time in pregame to see him last week on Sunday and get he carried a smile on his face the rest of the day."
The young football fan was lucky to have the opportunity to travel with his condition and Rodgers ensured that it was worth his while.
What happened to T.J. Olsen?
The former tight end's son was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. This is a birth defect that affects the blood flow from the heart. The issue caused his parents real concern over whether he was going to live much longer.
However, following his third transplant last year, it appears he's here for the long run. Since then, his trajectory has been pointing upward, as the tight end mentioned to USA Today:
“He’s really doing well. We kind of go checkup at a time. So far, the checkups have gone really well, and the doctors are happy with how his body’s kind of healing and adapting to a new heart. It’s a wild thing, but he’s doing really well.”
As he's medically able to travel now, the young man might soon meet many of his heroes.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit the Rich Eisen Show, USA Today and H/T Sportskeeda.