Comeback Coach Gary Kubiak

When NFL Coach Gary Kubiak experienced a stroke during a game in 2013, he wasn't sure if football would still be in his future, let alone a Super Bowl.

Sam Adams Aug 23, 2016

Gary Kubiak offers a handshake as he invites an old acquaintance into his office at the Denver Broncos' UCHealth Training Center. The grin on Kubiak's face looks as if it's been in place since winning Super Bowl 50 last season—his first season as the Broncos' head coach.

Instead of talking football X's and O's, Kubiak chooses this particularly cold spring morning to open up about the night he was brought to his knees by a TIA—transient ischemic attack.

The mini-stroke occurred on Nov. 3, 2013, in front of a national television audience. Kubiak was head coach of the Houston Texans at the time. He was leaving the field with his team at then–Reliant Stadium when he dropped suddenly to his knees.

Within minutes he was on a stretcher, being wheeled to a waiting ambulance. The Houston native was taken to Houston Methodist hospital, where it was confirmed through a series of tests that Kubiak had experienced a TIA. A TIA can occur when blood flow to part of the brain stops for a short period of time. It can mimic stroke-like symptoms and last less than 24 hours before disappearing.

"I don't recall a lot of what happened,'' says Kubiak, who turned 55 on Aug. 15. "But what I do recall is after the fact. I remember being at the hospital, and they were putting me through MRIs, various things. I had some issues going on with my left side, which was scaring the hell out of me."

"So I'm going through all these things, and I remember them asking me and my family to sign papers okaying them to give me this shot. And my wife and kids were saying, 'You've got to do it.' That's when I realized something was going on." Luckily, doctors were able to administer a clotbusting thrombolytic drug, which if received in a timely manner can limit the potential damage caused by a stroke.

"I think after that, a couple days went by and I felt normal. But I knew I'd been through something that could have been life-threatening.

"I came to the realization that I was OK, but after what had taken place I'd better stop and listen. I had some issues going on, like weakness in my left arm and left leg. But I knew that I had weathered the storm, so to speak. I felt very fortunate that I was getting under control to get back to being myself."

Kubiak's interpretation of "being myself" meant returning to countless hours of work at the practice facility, watching game film of opponents, evaluating players' performances, and drawing up game plans. To say the National Football League has consumed his life would be an understatement. The 2016 season will be his 32nd in the league—nine as a player (all with the Broncos) and 23 as a head coach or assistant.

The grind of countless hours of football was catching up to Kubiak when the TIA hit him with all the force of a blitzing linebacker leveling an unsuspecting quarterback.

Being the competitor that he is, Kubiak wanted to pick himself up off the ground and go back to work. Instead, he was advised to stay home and was given guidelines to follow while he slowly worked his way back to the team.

"They told me I'd find that I'd be pretty exhausted going through this situation," Kubiak says. "That was the biggest thing for about two or three weeks. You know, being a football coach and waking up every day at 5 o'clock in the morning, going to work, and working until 10, 11 at night … you think you're a little invincible.

"All of a sudden I'm getting up and around the house—I'd make it until noon and have to sit down. I knew something had changed about me, as far as my energy, and I had some work to do to get back to being myself."

When Kubiak received clearance to return to the Texans, his time with the team didn't last long. After losing 27–20 to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Dec. 5, Houston's season record dropped to 2–11.

The Texans decided to fire Kubiak, bringing his eight-year tenure with the team to an abrupt end. "So I went from worrying about my health to all of a sudden, shoot, I just got fired," Kubiak says. "There was a lot going on."

Not long after being fired, Kubiak took a weekend trip to Louisiana with his wife, Rhonda. The two have been married now for 33 years. The getaway might have