Former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Marty Schottenheimer has been battling Alzheimer's disease for five years, according to an ESPNreport released on Friday.
Shottenheimer was head coach with the Chiefs from 1989 to 1998. He won more than 100 games.
“He’s in the best of health, [but] sometimes he just doesn’t remember everything,” Schottenheimer's wife, Pat, told ESPN. “He functions extremely well, plays golf several times a week. He’s got that memory lag where he’ll ask you the same question three or four times."
Alzheimer's is an irreversible brain disorder that slowly takes-away a person's memory and ability to think. Fifty million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's and the latest statistics show that Alzheimer's is the 6th leading cause of death.
The 73-year-old and his wife will attend the 30th reunion of the 1986 Browns team, according to the ESPN report.
Shottenheimer was in Kansas City a month ago when Tony Richardson was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Arrowhead.
The former Chiefs head coach is expected to start taking an experimental drug that will hopefully slow-down progression of the brain disease.
“He remembers people and faces, and he pulls out strange things that I’ve never heard, but he’s doing well. It’s going be a long road. We both know that,” Pat told ESPN.
Chiefs head coach, Andy Reid, said Alzheimer's is a sad disease. Reid called Shottenheimer a great man and said he is praying for Shottenheimer and his family.
Schottenheimer's NFL career reached almost 350 games with four different teams.
Marty Schottenheimer served as head coach for the following NFL teams:
Cleveland Browns - 1984-1988
Kansas City Chiefs - 1989-1998
Washington Redskins - 2001 season
San Diego Chargers - 2002-2006
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Cynthia Newsome can be reached at Cynthia.Newsome@kshb.com.
