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Gratitude for all the support
"I'm feeling good. First of all, I want to thank all of you guys for all your good wishes and good thoughts and all the fans out there [and] obviously the Broncos organization, to allow me this time to get my health back, and that process is going very well. It's been helped by everybody there in Denver, and probably first and foremost my wife, Robin."
On Surgery and recovery
"With heart surgery, they basically hit you with a truck pretty fast. So you have to heal. They open up the chest cavity, they perform surgery on your heart, they put you all back together. They have to monitor things. The scariest part was the four days I was in the hospital. You're in intensive care. It's all intensive care for heart surgery. It's not like you go from one to the next. That all went good. There is always some scary parts to it, and I'm past those. Right now it's a matter of just doing the right thing. I've got good docs, I've got a great team in charge of me and they're doing a terrific job. I'm feeling better every day."
When did he learn of his condition?
"I think actually it was something that should have probably been discovered sooner, from all the athletics I played as a youth growing up. Actually they discovered it probably a little less than 20 years ago, in 1997. It comes across as a murmur. They check out what's causing that sloshy sound of a murmur, and with me it was the bicuspid aortic valve."
Did he watch the game, did he have to stop, did Peyton's injury concern him?
"Oh yeah, I did. It always appears a bit different on the coaches copy for sure....It got probably a little bit tense. I knew that wasn't the best thing for me at that moment..."Yeah, I don't think that I want to get into specifics. I can just leave you with the thought that there were a few, and that could have been one of them."
Is he on top of the doings at Dove Valley?
"I've got a pretty good team of people there that I stay in touch with on a daily basis. That's obviously been helpful for me through the rehab thing too-it keeps me from getting bored to death. I feel great about the people there and that everything is in at this point. Obviously, we've made Jack [Del Rio] the interim coach because I know I have great confidence in him. He has great leadership on the football team. I have an outstanding staff even besides Jack. So, I feel good about the hands that all the football decisions are in."
Will he share his game notes with coaches/players?
"More so with coaches. I still text and talk to the players as well. The more coherent I become-that pain medication can make for some funny conversations if you allow it. I'm feeling much better now. I have had conversations with a lot of people in Dove Valley."
Will he return this year?
"Oh yeah, I don't think there is any question. There's always a question-that's why I don't like putting timelines-but my goal and dream is to be there obviously before the conclusion of this season."
Once a coach, always a coach haha. Within a week of open heart surgery Coach Fox was already chompin' at the bit for more football action. If there are any fans of the movie "Major League" out there, it reminds me Manager Lou Brown who had a heart attack and sneaked a small handheld radio with one-ear piece into the hospital so he could listen to his team play in the ALCS all while fooling the nurses and caregivers that his emotional swings had to do with British Television Soap Opera on the BBC.
We're glad you're on the mend coach, and we will be thrilled to have back on the sidelines when you are able. Until then, rest up--we have a Super Bowl Run to prepare for!!!
GO BRONCOS!!!