On October 21st, Penn State issued the following statement that starting running back, Journey Brown, would be out indefinitely: “Journey Brown is being treated for a medical condition discovered during the offseason and will potentially miss the 2020 football season.” Brown became an off-season darling in the devy community and had broken into the first round of many drafts before this news broke. Many believed that there was a decent chance that he could return to have a future in the NFL after taking some time off. During his 2019 season, Brown showed strength and elusiveness that reminded many of the Saquon Barkley days, and he put up promising statistics.
Earlier in the offseason, Brown was shooting up draft boards based on his spring testing. It is utterly amazing that Brown was able to bulk up to 216 lbs and run a 4.29-second 40-yard dash. Unfortunately, on November 11 Brown announced that he would be medically retiring from the game of football due to Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick (hypertrophied). The thickened heart muscle can make it harder for the heart to pump blood. This can result in cardiac arrest, which means it is unlikely that Brown will ever return to football given that risk. This is one of those situations that are bigger than football, and, much more importantly, than fantasy football. We wish that Journey has a safe and fruitful future.
Brown’s message to the world:
From a fantasy perspective, Penn State will be without Brown. They are also missing Noah Cain for the season due to a leg injury. That opens up an opportunity for sophomore running back Devyn Ford, who was a four-star prospect from Virginia. Also, true freshman Caziah Holmes will also step into a bigger role within the offense. Holmes is a four-star prospect from Florida, who has more desirable size from an NFL perspective standing at 5’11” and 209 lbs versus Ford who is 5’11” and 198 lbs. However, we shouldn’t be diverting attention away from the seriousness of this condition to Brown’s health and future, which is of the utmost priority.
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