NEWYou can now listen to PK Press Club articles!
As a Super Bowl champion quarterback, Steve Beuerlein diagnosed defenses. Today, at 61, he uses AI to predict the types of heart problems that might arise.
Beuerlein told PK Press Club Digital in a recent interview that as he got older, he thought more about his mortality.
“As you get older, you start to think about your mortality a little more,” Beuerlein told PK Press Club Digital in an interview with Heartflow.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PK Press Club
Steve Beuerlein waves during a Netflix event for “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys” at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles, California on August 11, 2025. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
He signed up for Heartflow’s Gamefilm Registry because the company uses groundbreaking technology to determine whether a person is at risk for cardiovascular disease.
“I looked into it, I did my research and I realized what Heartflow had as a company and its technology, which was the first of its kind, and a completely revolutionary, AI-powered type of technology that fits into this overall offering to detect heart disease at an early stage,” Beuerlein said.
The Pro Bowl quarterback said his father had been battling cardiovascular disease for 30 years and with that in mind he wanted to get checked out himself.
“My dad kind of struggled with this for the last 30 years of his life. And so, of course, I was curious about how I adapted and how I went through the whole process. It was painless, non-invasive, very effective, a very easy process to follow. And then the details when I went through that and came back, all the information that came back was so comprehensive and for me, fortunately, it was very positive,” Beuerlein said.
Beuerlein was not only impressed by the simplicity of the control, but also by the power of the AI technology that made the results so understandable.
“It’s amazing how simple the procedure is to follow and yet with the technology they have, a lot of it powered by AI, you sit down with a doctor after you go through the process and the results come in and you’re literally looking at a computer,” Beuerlein said.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Steve Beuerlein plays against the Carolina Panthers during the 1995 Hall of Fame game at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio, July 29, 1995. (Michael C. Hébert/USA TODAY NETWORK)
“You see a 3D image of your heart and they can rotate it to where you can see it from the front, from the back.”
The results allow doctors and the patient to see into all chambers of the heart. There is a color scale that identifies areas where plaque begins to grow.
Hard plaque is an immediate cause for concern, but soft plaque buildup is also a problem.
The tests allow the patient to get a baseline of their current condition and give people the opportunity to be proactive with their heart health instead of reactive.
“Fifty percent of first heart attacks or major cardiac episodes happen completely by surprise. People had no way of knowing that this was going to happen, that they were having these problems. And that’s what motivated Heartflow to try to solve this problem and come up with this revolutionary technology,” Beuerlein said.
“Often it progresses in people and there are no signs, no symptoms. They have no way of really knowing that they are at risk.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PK Press Club APP
Carolina Panthers quarterback Steve Beuerlein throws the ball against the Atlanta Falcons during a 1997 season game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia on September 7, 1997. (RVR Photos/USA TODAY Sports)
More information about Heartflow technology can be found on its website, in addition to contacting any doctor or health center that has a partnership with the company.
Beuerlein played in the NFL for 14 seasons. He played for the Los Angeles Raiders, Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos. He was a backup quarterback when the Cowboys won the Super Bowl in 1992.
He made the Pro Bowl with the Panthers in 1999. In 147 games (102 starts), he completed 56.9% of passes for 24,046 yards, with 147 touchdowns and 112 interceptions.
