Dallas Cowboys strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul suffered a serious medical emergency on Tuesday morning and was transported from the team’s facility to a local hospital.
Initially, a former colleague of Paul’s sent out a text message that had indicated a dire outcome. That led to various reports on Paul’s well-being that, thankfully, turned out to be inaccurate and has since been corrected by his family and the Cowboys organization.
Just to explain: A former colleague of Markus Paul’s texted some folks with some news about Paul. That news was assumed by many to be accurate. Thankfully, it’s not. Again, per the #Cowboys’ statement, he’s at the hospital getting tests. They will update at the appropriate time.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) November 24, 2020
Full statement from Cowboys on Markus Paul, whose family says he remains in process of undergoing tests: pic.twitter.com/SiHZjdtsCc
— Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) November 24, 2020
The 54-year-old Paul, who is beloved and well-respected across the NFL landscape, was promoted to head strength and conditioning coach in Dallas this past offseason. He had spent the previous two years as an assistant to Mike Woicik after being hired by Jason Garrett in 2018.
Before his time with the Cowboys, Paul spent 12 years with the New York Giants organization as an assistant strength and conditioning coach. During that span, he won two Super Bowl titles with the team, bringing his career total to five.
Paul won three other Super Bowl titles as a member of the New England Patriots from 2000-2004.
In addition to his stints with the Patriots, Giants and Cowboys, Paul has also spent time with the New Orleans Saints (1998-1999) and New York Jets (2005-2006). He also played for the Chicago Bears, where he was a fourth-round pick, from 1989-1993 and very briefly with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1993).
Following news of Paul’s medical emergency, the Giants released a statement through Twitter offering their thoughts and prayers.
The Mara and Tisch families and the entire New York Giants organization are praying for Markus Paul. Markus was a beloved member of the Giants from 2007-2018. Our thoughts and prayers are with Markus and his family.
— New York Giants (@Giants) November 24, 2020
The entirety of Giants Nation also expresses their thoughts, prayers and well wishes for Paul and his family.