Many of you have noticed that FOX’s Jay Glazer hasn’t been around much lately. He has a very good reason for that.
On the first day of free agency, Glazer nearly died.
He appeared earlier today on The Dan Patrick Show to discuss the serious health scare that resulted from outpatient surgery. Glazer separately explained the situation by phone to PFT.
“I went in for a routine back deal,” Glazer said. “Nothing big. Dissolving a piece of a disc that broke. Something that was real easy took a turn.”
After being given anesthesia, Glazer vomited into the face cradle. The stomach contents ended up in his lungs, and the acid burned the tissue.
Glazer started convulsing, and the doctors revived him. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he spent four days recovering from aspiration double pneumonia.
He didn’t realize the gravity of the situation at the time. Once Glazer was out of the woods, doctors explained that the outcome could have been much more dire.
“It could go one of two ways,” Glazer said, “and for a while I was going the wrong way.”
He has struggled for more than a month to get healthy. The damage to his lungs has caused Glazer to have good days followed by setbacks. He wanted to attend the league meetings in Orlando, but the flight would have required the use of an oxygen tank. Doctors also feared that his oxygen levels could plummet at altitude, and that he could have a heart attack.
Even now, Glazer is far from 100 percent. As his heart works harder to pump oxygenated blood from his lungs, his resting pulse rate has been 115.
Still, he’s going to attempt to work this weekend for FOX, returning to action for UFC coverage. He has yet to be able to return to his MMA training business, to the disappointment of NFL players like Kyle Long, Chris Long, and Jared Allen -- and draft hopefuls like UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr and UCLA defensive end Cassius Marsh.
Last week, Glazer was scheduled to work out with Barr, but Glazer decided he should wait. Glazer instead tried nine minutes of shadow boxing instead. His oxygen level dropped, his heart rate went up, and Glazer ended up in his doctor’s office once again.
Glazer hopes to return to his NFL duties soon, making calls and chasing scoops and attending next month’s draft in New York City.
I look forward to seeing him there, and to having him do one of his typical Glazer things, like stick a thumb into my throat or lift me off the ground or put me in a headlock. Even during the worst days of his ordeal, Glazer was still doing Glazer things.
“I wanted candy,” he said of his hospital stay. “I unhooked myself, and I told the nurse I was talking a walk. I convinced the guys who were with me to take me downstairs to the gift shop. I went in and bought $230 worth of chocolate. In my gown with my ass hanging out.
“To this day I have no idea what happened with the $230 worth of chocolate.”
So if you were wondering where Glazer has been, now you know. And the next time you’re trying to fight off a craving for chocolate, think of Glazer in his hospital gown, with his ass hanging out.