Seahawks' Garrett Scott confident he'll return to football

The Seattle Seahawks selected Marshall OT Garrett Scott in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft, but prior to signing his rookie deal, it was discovered he had a rare undiagnosed heart condition. The condition -- now disclosed as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy -- is serious enough that it may mean Scott will never play football again, so the Seahawks reluctantly released him, but not before signing him to his rookie deal, which guaranteed over $100k.

"I talked with a lot of people and they said the Seahawks didn't have to do any of what they did for me," Scott told Jack Bogaczyk of the HerdZone.com. "I'm grateful. And when I talked to Mr. Schneider and Coach (Pete) Carroll and they told me, ‘Hey Garrett, we're going to honor the contract,' I was speechless. I mean, I worked for that, but I felt like they didn't have to do that and I don't know, I'm still speechless about it."

Scott cleared waivers and reverted to the non-football injury reserve list, meaning he's still a Seahawk and still getting a paycheck. The good news is, it sounds like his career may not be officially over.

As Scott told Bogaczyk, "Basically what they were telling me was, ‘Hey, just for you to stay around here, find a place to live right now,' because they want me out there. And I want to be out there as bad as they want me, if not more."

Per Scott, one wall of a heart ventricle is thicker than the other. This can be caused by strenuous exercise, so Scott believes that perhaps it first appeared when he was training for the Draft. The Seahawks do not have him on any medication -- they're simply asking him to rest. Apparently there is a chance his heart could return to normal and he'd be cleared to play football again, even as soon as this season.

"I got good news recently," Scott told Bogaczyk, "in that I had one test come back negative, and so that was a good sign of everything working in my favor."

He said he has another test in about a month, and they'll know more then. For now, he's taking mental reps and spending his time with the team with the expectation that he'll be back.

"I don't know percentages," Scott said, "but I'd say it's very likely I'll be out there. If it's not this season, then after that."

Wow!