Report: Former NFL player Millen undergoes successful heart transplant

Former NFL linebacker, executive and broadcaster Matt Millen is reportedly recovering in a New Jersey hospital after a Christmas Eve heart transplant. "He is out of surgery, and his wife Pat tells me the doctors told her it was a good match. Surgery was a success," NBC Sports columnist Peter King tweeted Monday morning. Millen, 60, waited three months for a match in Newark Beth Israel Hospital. He has been suffering from a rare disease, called amyloidoisis, that attacks the lining of the heart.

According to King, Millen learned Sunday that a match had been found and he was wheeled into surgery around 1 a.m. Eastern time Monday. He was expected to remain in recovery until late afternoon. Millen won four Super Bowls in a 12-year NFL career with the Raiders, 49ers and Redskins from 1980-91. After a broadcasting stint, he served as team president of the Detroit Lions from 2001-08. He stepped away from his role with the Big Ten Network this fall to concentrate on his health issues.