monitor a leaky heart valve. He’s since had multiple surgeries and is on the waiting list for a heart transplant himself.
He’s become a champion for the screenings, or “the traveling caravan,” as he calls it. He thinks many of the retired players show up “just because somebody said, ‘Come on man, let’s go. It ain’t gonna be nothin’ but a few hours. Let’s get checked out and see what’s going on.'”
Some of them, he said, ended up having hidden problems so severe they were taken straight to the hospital.
Both he and Rogowski think the program works because of the camaraderie. At the screenings, Catchings said, “We’re laughing. We’re talking. Guys are pushing one another. It’s almost like being in the locker room again.”
The program has evolved over time, Rogowski said. Internet cloud technology means records can be
