Chargers left tackle Russell Okung discusses the pulmonary embolism that he dealt with in June and his return to football.
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00:00How exciting is this for you?
00:03It's great.
00:04You know, I think first, I just want to thank my wife, my family, just for the wonderful
00:08support, the support of my teammates.
00:10Anytime you reach a situation where you face mortality, it gives you a lot of perspective.
00:14And I'm so grateful to be alive, one, and to be back out here with my teammates.
00:20I miss these guys a lot.
00:22How scary was this whole situation?
00:24Yeah, I definitely looked death right in the face.
00:28And had it not been for a family who cared about my well-being and took the extra steps
00:33to make sure that I got checked on, despite my own resistance to them, I may not be here
00:38right now.
00:39You know, so I'm grateful.
00:40I'm grateful for people that love me and care about me.
00:44And thanks to them, we found out what the situation was and how to be proactive about
00:51it.
00:52Medically speaking, are you in the clear?
00:53Is there anything you're still doing, medications you're still taking?
00:56Like how, what's the situation?
00:58Yeah, I'm working with the best doctors in the world right now.
01:01Shout out to Dr. Tapson down at Cedars-Sinai.
01:04Thank you so much for your work.
01:06And Dr. Nasir down at the great pulmonologist, hematologist.
01:12This has been months in the making to make sure that I, that they were great advocates
01:19for me and we could do the best in order to prepare me to live a long life.
01:25And then if playing was a part of that possibility, it would be that way.
01:30And fortunately it is.
01:31Did you expect to come back Russ?
01:34Was that your thought process all along?
01:36Was you're going to make it back?
01:37Yeah.
01:38You know, I, I, I'm always been, I've always been optimist.
01:41You know, and you know, you know, family is a priority.
01:46Today is a combination of hard conversations with my family, my loved ones, internally
01:53looking at myself to figure out if this is the best decision for me.
01:57And we made that decision together as a family that it did make sense for us to continue
02:01to keep playing.
02:02You know, so I don't think anybody ever doubted just my personal resilience and ability, but
02:08I'm so grateful that I'm here.
02:11Are you going to plan something or do you think that's realistic?
02:15Well, look, I'm talking with the coaches and the trainers and we're trying to put together
02:19the best plan for me to come back as healthy as possible.
02:21Russ, physically, where do you feel like you're at?
02:24Well, I think today will be a lot, will be pretty telling.
02:27I'm going to go out there and practice.
02:29We're going to have some pads on and knock a couple of the guys around and see where
02:33I'm at.
02:34Just from being on the side and everything, you feel like you're conditioning and everything?
02:38Yep.
02:39Every morning I've been up 6 to 7 a.m. making sure that I'm prepared to come back and play.
02:43So today's just a matter of getting the pads on and honing the speed of the game again.
02:49Do you feel resistant to get this checked out?
02:53Yeah, I think when you talk about athletes and our health, it's very difficult to go
03:00to the doctor if we want to take care of ourselves, but I was forced into that.
03:05I think PE, deep vein thrombosis, is one of the, it's an ailment that a lot of players
03:13aren't paying attention to and it's becoming more prevalent as time's going on.
03:17So I think it's something that a lot of players should start thinking about and checking themselves for.
03:21When did you feel the pain already?
03:24Yeah, so that June 1st time was when I first felt some shortness of breath and I noticed
03:29that it was affecting my ability to go out and play.
03:33But again, we're past that now and that's been what it is.
03:36Guys, I'm ready to talk about the future.
03:39How relieved are you to be back now playing football and being with the guys you care about?
03:43Yeah, I mean, I love my teammates.
03:46I love being able to support them.
03:48I've been a team captain here and hopefully a person that the guys believe in.
03:53And I'm just ready to get back to work.
03:55I'm ready to get back to work.
03:56I'm having a good time at home sitting down with my baby boy.
04:00But even at three and a half months old, he's like, I don't know what daddy's doing here.
04:03Daddy, it's time for you to go back to work.
04:05You know, so again, yeah.
04:10Thanks guys.
04:11Yeah, I'll take them off.
04:13Russ, what's your biggest concern?
04:15You talked about being game ready, but what do you mean?
04:19Yeah, no concerns, man.
04:21I've been playing this game for going on 10 years now, right?
04:23So I mean, technical wise and from skill or whatever, like I put a lot into this game.
04:30And I'm going to trust my abilities and my experience and use that to go out there and help my team win games.
04:38Russ, what's it been like seeing this offensive line this season with a lot of young guys?
04:42What do you think about that?
04:45Yeah, you know, playing football is hard.
04:47Winning games is extremely more difficult.
04:50So look, I think the guys have been trying to do everything they can to put their best product out on the field.
04:55And in some ways, it hasn't been enough.
04:57And that's just from the whole team perspective, not just the offensive line.
05:00But I'm very confident in our young guys and their ability and their willingness to be coached
05:05and to take down on their own foundational skills.
05:11And we're going to go out there and we're going to put our best foot forward and it's going to be enough.