San Francisco 49ers

Former Bengals head coach Sam Wyche needs a heart transplant

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:20 p.m. ET

Brett Smiley

Former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback and head coach Sam Wyche shared on his Facebook page recently that he will need a heart transplant as a result of congestive heart failure that he's lived with for 16 years.

An update on the 71-year-old's website reads:

“I am in Carolinas Medical Center’s Dickson Heart Unit in Charlotte, NC awaiting donor heart transplant. If there is no match for a donor heart in the next few days, I will need to have an LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device which is an artificial heart pump) implanted below my heart until a donor heart can be obtained. I have outstanding Sanger Clinic physicians and hospital staff taking care of me.”

Wyche debuted in the NFL as a quarterback for the Bengals in 1968 and finished his career with the Cardinals in 1976. He began his professional coaching career as an assistant for the San Francisco 49ers in 1979 and in 1984 became head coach of the Bengals, which he led to the Super Bowl in 1989 (XXIII), a 20-16 loss to the Niners. He's also pretty well-remembered for his famous "You don't live in Cleveland!" speech.

A recent update indicates that Wyche is hanging tough and moving around (against doctor's orders):