Cameron Smith, the second-year linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings, announced Sunday via Instagram that he will miss the 2020 season because he needs to have open heart surgery.
Smith, through further testing that was performed after he had tested positive for COVID-19, discovered he needs the surgery to fix a bicuspid aortic valve that he was born with. “Although this will unfortunately end my 2020 season, it is really a blessing that we found this as my heart is severely enlarged and wouldn’t have lasted much longer,” Smith wrote. “I found this out after I tested positive for COVID and had to have further testing done as protocol.