Cameron Smith will miss the 2020 NFL season due to a congenital heart condition he discovered after testing positive for the coronavirus. Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Vikings LB Cameron Smith discovers heart condition after positive coronavirus test

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 8/9/20

Minnesota Vikings linebacker Cameron Smith will miss the 2020 NFL season due to a congenital heart condition he discovered after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Smith announced the news via Instagram on Saturday and said he'll be undergoing open-heart surgery to fix a bicuspid aortic valve.

View this post on Instagram

Earlier this week I found out I need open heart surgery to fix a bicuspid aortic valve that I was born with. Although this will unfortunately end my 2020 season, it is really a blessing that we found this as my heart is severely enlarged and wouldn’t have lasted much longer. I found this out after I tested positive for COVID and had to have further testing done as protocol. The Lord works in mysterious ways, but I could really feel him on this one! There is a surgery that will allow me to continue to play football as soon as I am healed and cleared and I didn’t think twice about going with that one. By no means am I ready to be done playing football, there is still so much more I want to accomplish on the field. Im going to attack this like everything else I have in life. Already looking forward to the comeback! #SKOL

A post shared by Cam (@_killacam) on Aug 8, 2020 at 12:22pm PDT

The 23-year-old says the surgery will allow him to continue to play football once he's healed.

Smith, who was a four-year starter at USC, was selected by Minnesota in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. While at USC, he totaled 354 tackles and earned All-Pac-12 honors in three seasons. In five games for the Vikings last season, he totaled eight tackles.

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